A smashed leadlight at St Paul's church in Paihia.
Churches are often the targets of theft. Just as cemeteries and Anzac tributes are frequently the objects of vandalism. Regan Schoultz investigates whether New Zealanders have lost their sense of respect for what others hold sacred.
Thou shalt not steal.
On a daily basis those among us blatantly disregard the eighth commandment. But is the theft and destruction of sacred items crossing a line?
When a 300-year-old 75kg bronze bell is stolen from a North Island Anglican Church then pawned off as scrap metal for a few dollars; most right-thinking people would say so.
And when fields of handmade white crosses, painstakingly put up as a mark of respect to fallen soldiers, are kicked and punched and shattered by drunk teenagers; is this a desecration too far?
RSA national president BJ Clark certainly thinks so. It is bad enough when public or personal property is stolen or vandalised, he says, but the theft of something sacred feels that much worse.
"It is frustrating, it is hurtful and it shows an extreme lack of disrespect."
On February 16 the Jewish section of a Dunedin cemetery was attacked and three headstones were vandalised. A swastika was painted on one and the other two were kicked over.
In that same month, a thief decided the honesty boxes of five churches in the South Island were an acceptable source of income.
These are a small handful of incidents regularly taking place and, when they are discovered, they can feel like a slap in the face to the custodians.
But University of Otago professor of theology David Tombs says disrespect to sacred places and institutions is not often the goal of thieves.
"I think people steal from churches because they are an easy target. I don't think it is an intentional disrespect of the church that is happening.
"People are probably not aware that in the church, it might be experienced as not just theft, but something sacred which has been disrespected," he says.
"The people doing it often have no sense of the emotional distress that they may be causing by disrupting a sacred space."
Physical poverty, rather than poverty of faith, could also be behind the crimes.
The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland frequently loses its donations box to what could be considered wicked hands. However, spokeswoman Sarah Harris says the thefts could be because of an increasing number of homeless rather than growing lack of regard for churches.
"The issue links in with the number of homeless people around. We have an awful lot of homeless people who come to the cathedral to find somewhere to sleep.
"A lot of them need money and need things that they can't provide for themselves without stealing it. The majority of thefts from the church recently have been simply things like food and drink."
WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?
So a little wooden box with a few coins, or a few dollars worth of wooden crosses and paint aren't huge losses in the global scheme of things, surely?
Outside of the emotional harm caused to those who place significance on sacred items, the difficulty of replacing such items can be a major issue, Harris says.
"Many of the furniture and windows in the cathedral are one-of-a-kind bespoke items and we can try and repair them the best we can but it is not like just going to Freedom Furniture and getting them replaced."
Clark says the RSA was faced with a similar problem when trying to clean vandalism off cenotaphs which were regularly targeted.
"We have currently got [a cenotaph] here that has been vandalised and, because of the material of it, it can't easily be repaired," he says.
Theft and break-ins to the church are also becoming more frequent, Harris says.
"There have been a scary number of thefts from our donation boxes, it is really sad. It is a really concerning problem and it is happening more and more," she says.
"Any theft in the cathedral building has a knock-on effect not only for our property but for the people around here, you know, you tend to feel unsafe when you know the building isn't secure."
Tombs says churches also face the dilemma of whether to ramp up security and exclude people.
"The last thing the churches wish to do is to cut themselves off from the communities that they serve. They are actively seeking to make themselves open to and in service of the wider community.
"Therefore they can't respond to theft in a way that a commercial business might do. That is not to say that they should be irresponsible either," he says.
"They obviously have to make the decisions that are appropriate in their particular context but it is not an easy solution to beef up security measures.
That is only something most churches would do reluctantly and if they feel forced to."
ARE THE ACTS ENTIRELY FAITHLESS?
Tombs says the fact these objects are being targeted sometimes demonstrates there is recognition of sacred items.
"I think the complexity of the issue is the very fact that these things are being targeted ... shows that there is some significance which is being recognised but it is not a respectful significance.
"The question is 'why are these things being targeted?'. Is it purely casual and that there isn't an intentional, anti-religious element to it, it is just that these are easy objects, or is there an intentional anti-religious element?
"That of course is the huge issue with the desecration of Jewish cemeteries.
You have to suspect there is some anti-semetic elements to that and that it is not just casual."
Tombs says more understanding is needed of the reasons behind why people vandalise and steal sacred objects.
"It does point towards an issue that we need more understanding of. We need to understand what it is that people think they are doing when they do things like this.
"It may just be wanton acts against easy targets without any sense of the significance of what they are doing or how that would seem to others," he says.
"All one can say is what may appear to them as fairly insignificant, inconsequential vandalism can read in a different context in a much more sinister way, which they may not have intended."
Clark says an understanding of the messages that are portrayed by sacred items, would help to reduce theft and vandalism.
"It is actually trying to understand why people do this that would be the key. We need to deal with it and try and solve the problem," he says.
"There is a lack of understanding of the message that is being conveyed through sacred items. If [vandals and thieves] really did understand it and get it, then they wouldn't do it," he says.
Ultimately, what could be lost?
Each time another nasty incident occurs, those caring for our sacred places face yet another test of faith.
Harris says: "When someone walks past the donation box it is only human after the experiences we have had, to think 'are they going to put something in or are they going to take something out'."