Thieves appear to have taken advantage of Saturday night's storm to steal the copper spouting from a church north of Wellington.
When they arrived for their service on Sunday morning parishioners at St Philip's Anglican Church in Stokes Valley noticed the downpipes and spouting on both sides of the church were missing and the slate tiles damaged.
A member of the church, Allan Webb, says it appears the copper was stolen for the value of the metal during the night while people were sheltering from the weather.
