"But, there's some desperate people out there who are after a bit of money.
"Unless someone's used it to decorate their house.
"I just hope it's still intact."
Ms Penney said the candlestick - with the Easter candle - was used at a funeral service on Friday, September 5.
She replaced the candle on the Saturday morning, but when congregation members arrived to set up for Mass that evening, the candlestick was gone.
"At Mass, there was just a small candle holder on the altar, which I thought was odd.
"I asked the ladies who set up, and they said they couldn't find it anywhere.
"It's just completely gone."
Ms Penney said the church was left open that Saturday, as usual, so residents could use the space to pray and meditate.
"I believe a church should always be open: it's a safe haven from the rest of the world.
"It's very disappointing - you open your church to the community, and people steal from you.
"It makes me sad."
This is not the first time St Mary's has been targeted - three years ago, copper piping and the Easter bell in the courtyard were taken from the church.
Around the same time, the bell at the Carterton Fire Station also went missing, and was later recovered "in bits and pieces."
The St Mary's bell was never found.
Ms Penney has reported the theft to the Carterton Police, and is appealing to the community to contact her if they see anything suspicious outside the church on the weekend in question.
"The candle holder is big and very heavy," she said.
"They would have had to have taken it out the front doors and on to the street, and I can't imagine it would have been easy to get into a car.
"Someone must have seen something."
The church community just wanted the candle holder back.
"If you took it, and you just come back in and return it, we don't care - as long as we get it back."
