Worshippers distraught after cross is stolen from South Bersted church

The religious artefact was stolen from St Mary Magdalene Church and the thought a person would deliberately set out to steal such a powerful symbol of christianity has upset the churchgoers.

"It's dreadful to steal a cross from a church," churchwarden Doreen Edwards said. "Some of our elderly members were almost in tears to think someone would do that."

The silver-plated cross is about 24in high and is believed to have dated from the 1940s or 50s. Its value is about 200.

But Mrs Edwards said the object's symbolism and sentimental value to members of the congregation far outweighed its monetary value.

Aside from its religious worth, the cross was one of the few reminders of the former St Peter's Church in Bognor Regis.

This stood in Westloats Lane, close to the community college entrance, until it was demolished in the mid-1990s and replaced by housing.

"The theft is a great loss to some of our church members who were

in the congregation of St Peter's," she explained.

The break-in at the mainly 13th-century church in Bersted Street occurred overnight on May 16.

The burglar smashed a leaded window at the back of the church.

The cross was kept on top of a cupboard in an alcove in front of the window.

But it remained just out of reach so a branch from a nearby tree was used to drag the cross closer until it could be picked up.

The window, measuring 6ft high and 18in wide, is 6ft off the ground.

It could be reached only by scrambling up a nearby memorial.

Currently boarded up, the window will be replaced at an estimated cost of 1,000.

A new cross '“ as close a match as possible '“ will also be bought eventually through the church's insurer.

Mrs Edwards said the burglary was the most serious of a series of incidents to affect the church in its cul-de-sac location.

Three more windows were damaged in the week after the theft.

"There are always youngsters around the churchyard.

"We pick up empty beer cans and other rubbish every weekend," said Mrs Edwards.

"The police have been informed of the break-in and have promised to keep an eye on the church.

"But it's impossible for them to be here all the time."

She added she believed the theft of the cross, as a deliberate act, was unconnected to those who gathered in the churchyard for underage drinking.