Community rallies for United Mission Church following burglary of music gear

The United Mission Church in Leonsdale is appealing to the public for information to help find their stolen music equipment.

The church on the corner of 12th Avenue in Elsies River was burglarised by between Wednesday and Thursday last week.

According to Pastor Henry Tarentaal, there are no signs of forced entry. 

Tarentaal said they had prayer hour at the church on Tuesday evening and when they locked up, everything was still there.

But when the worship team arrived at the church on Thursday evening for practise, they discovered all the music equipment was stolen.

“When the worship team arrived at the church on Thursday evening they saw that the door was open, but the gate was locked with one slot. It usually has two locks, we picked up the other slot at the back of the church," Tarentaal said. 

"When we entered the church, we discovered that the thieves had entry to the church and stole all our music equipment."

He said valuables were also stolen from the kitchen despite it being behind a security gate. 

"What I don't understand is that when we entered the church upon discovery of the burglary, all the gates were locked but things were missing. It makes one wonder. 

"We are not sure how the thieves entered the church because there was no forced entry."

Tarentaal said the value of the stolen equipment is more than R50 000, adding that the church does not have that kind of money.

Among the items stolen were microphones, sound boxes, a projector, electric guitars and an audio mixer.

“This is the second time the church has been broken into.

"We are a church in a community who are from impoverished backgrounds, we are dependent on fundraisers, which is difficult because not everyone can contribute, so it is going to take time for us to buy all the equipment back." 

Police spokesperson Anelisiwe Manyana said Elsies River police opened a burglary case for further investigation.

She said the unknown suspect/s fled the scene are yet to be arrested.

Police are appealing to anyone who may have any information regarding this incident to contact crime Stop on 08600 10111.

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