Police have stormed homes and arrested three men in connection to the theft of historic York stones.
Officers investigating the stolen stones from eight churches, including St Peter's and St Paul's in Ormskirk, carried out raids in Greater Manchester under the Cheshire Police operation. Officers swooped on addresses in Middleton, Oldham and Rochdale.
The MEN reported, three men, aged 48, 31 and 28, were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to commit theft. Cheshire police carried out the raids on, Wednesday July 27, at around 7pm.
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At the time of the incident, residents posting on the Ormskirk police Facebook page, expressed their 'shock' that thieves would take something from a 'sacred place.' Michelle Andrews said: "Oh for goodness sake is nothing sacred anymore. These horrible, sad, miserable humans. Justice must be done."
Susan Gill added: "Absolutely unbelievable. What sort of person does this to sacred ground? These people have got to be caught and soon. Absolutely disgusting."
Police Constable Rob Stordy, from Cheshire Constabulary's rural crime team, said: "These warrants are in response to a series of York stone thefts across the North West, East and West Midlands since the beginning of the year. We're committed to working with other agencies to soften our borders and make Cheshire a hostile environment for criminals to operate within."
He added: "Not only do thefts of historic stone destroy our rich history, but it impacts the heart of our rural communities. It’s important that we collaborate with other forces to investigate these crimes, share information and work together to get justice for our rural communities.
"I want to make it known that Cheshire is and will continue to be a hostile environment for those intent on committing heritage crime and I hope our efforts today demonstrate our pursuit in disrupting criminality by using any means necessary."
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