Church Bell Stolen from Mallala Community Amid Wave of Metal Thefts

A cherished church bell has been stolen from a regional South Australian township, sparking outrage from the local community and calls for stronger regulation of scrap metal sales. The brass bell, which was located outside St Peters Anglican Church in Mallala, is believed to have been stolen between October 2 and October 9.

The theft has been condemned by the local mayor, who described the bell as an irreplaceable "time capsule" from the community's past. "Things like this [bell] are part of the fabric of our communities and we've had memorials that have gone missing or actually been stolen over the period of time, but these memorials are like a living time capsule," Adelaide Plains Mayor Mark Wasley said.

"I'd really like to see some much tighter restrictions on accepting all sorts of metals that are coming obviously stolen." Mayor Wasley added that the bell's weight suggested that more than one person may have been involved in its theft, and urged the thief to return it, saying "leave it on the doorstep at the church — we would be more than happy with that".

The local priest warden, Annette Halford, expressed her distress at the theft, saying "I felt as though we'd really lost something special; it's part of the fabric of the church." She added that many congregation members were upset, and that "it's sort of sacrilege, really" to steal from the church.

Congregation member Terry Halford described the theft as an "insult to the people who attend" the church, saying "it's just a shame people can't leave things alone and let things be".

The theft is one of several recent incidents of metal theft in the region, including the stealing of plaques from war memorials in suburban Adelaide. The state government has responded by announcing plans to fast-track laws targeting the sale of stolen metal, with Attorney-General Kyam Maher saying that the government would look to accelerate the introduction of the laws.

Burnside Mayor Anne Monceaux described the loss of plaques at a Rose Park memorial as "devastating" for the community, saying "this is not just our council issue, this is happening more and more where thieves are stealing this metal to melt it down for money and with absolutely no respect for those people who are damaged and hurt by the loss".

Councillor Lilian Henschke called for an audit of all scrap yards that don't have a licence, saying that a check had found 27 missing plaques across the City of Burnside area.

Harry De Ruiter from Daws Road Recycling supported calls for an audit of unlicensed yards, saying that his family's business worked closely with police in cases of suspected theft and that they wanted to support harsher penalties for repeat offenders.