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A Grade 1 listed church in Hemel has had its ancient windows damaged by vandals.
The damage occurred sometime between 8pm on Tuesday August 19 and 6.30pm on Wednesday August 20, at the Church of St John the Baptists at Pipers Hill, Great Gaddesden. The windows, one of which was an 11th Century stained glass window and another a Georgian lead wired window were damaged by objects being thrown at them.
PC Brian Evans said: “Due to the age and historical significance of the church the criminal damage has been classed as a heritage crime – the windows which were damaged are a delicate and precious part of this historically significant site and extremely difficult and expensive to repair.
“We are working closely with the church’s curators to help safeguard this very important heritage site. Anyone who has any information or saw the damage being committed is asked to contact police immediately by calling 101.”
Anyone with information or has information that may assist in the investigation is asked to contact the Herts Police non-emergency number 101 and quote crime reference D1/14/5086. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers, the independent charity, anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Members of the public can sign up to become members of Heritage Watch via the Constabulary’s web pages: www.herts.police.uk/HeritageWatch. Members will receive regular updates about issues or crimes at heritage sites in their local areas. They will also be signed up to Neighbourhood Watch’s OWL (Online Watch Link) system which will keep them up to date with crimes and police events happening close to where they live.