Community members of Cape George feel a great loss after a church bell was stolen.

That’s according to a neighbour of St. David’s United Church who noticed it missing with a circular saw blade left in its place on Friday afternoon.

Jim Webber-Cook tells our newsroom how it feels to have this historical bell taken.

“Unfortunately, someone had the audacity to take it from not only the church and the cemetery there where it stood, but also, it’s something that means something to the entire community here at Cape George,” shares Webber-Cook.

“It just feels a great loss to the community. It feels like a violation and many people in the neighbourhood here and beyond are upset that someone would go and remove that bell to steal it from the church and from the community.”

He says the over 150-year-old bell was donated to the church by St. Ninian’s School after it closed in June of 1983.

Community member Mary Kate MacEachern has made a Facebook post offering $1,000 reward for the return of the bell.