A church collection box in Inverness has been stolen for the second time.
St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church had its donations stolen over the weekend.
Police said they were investigating the incident that happened around 4pm on Saturday.
It is the second time the box has bee taken in less than a year, after thieves struck in August.
At the time of the first theft, parish priest Father James Bell asked parishioners to come to him and he would help.
Burglars are a real pest
In this weekend’s parish letter, Father Bell said there had also been a break-in at his own home in Tain.
He wrote: “Burglars are a real pest. I have recently been burgled; someone entered my home and stole a boot-jack.
“An item that sat in the entrance hallway was just too easy to snitch, located by the door for easy use, the removal of boots and outdoor shoes.
“It is rather an attractive article, made of wood and brass with a mechanism that grasped the shoes making removal easy.
“It had been in our family for well over a hundred years as once it was used in what was the family-owned saddler’s shop in Glasgow’s High Street.
“I have known it all my life, and I am saddened to have lost it. It was a focus for family memories.”
He continued: “Burglars, thieves and con-men, all the dishonest hobbledehoys who prey on other people are often motivated in their knavery to get money to finance their errant lifestyles, usually addictions.”
He urged people to think of the common good, a key feature of Medieval theology.
A police spokeswoman said: “We received a report of theft from a church in Huntly Street in Inverness at 5.20pm on Saturday February 4.
“Inquiries are ongoing.”
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