A valuable cross dating back nearly 100 years was stolen from an Altadena church earlier this week, and while officials are hoping for a safe return, they're concerned about the growing number of break-ins targeting their house of worship.
There are multiple broken and boarded up windows all over the exterior of the St. James United Methodist Church, the work of whom churchgoers suspect are homeless people looking for a place to stay and steal.
"They have left drug paraphernalia, sexual paraphernalia," Lucas noted, pointing out a broken stained glass window on one of the church's doors.
The metal and mosaic cross, which is about 18-inches tall, was crafted by famous Italian artist Antonio Salviati and originally resided in a church at Stanford University, but was donated to St. James sometime between the 1930s and 1940s after the church burned down in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, according to congregant Jude Lucas.
"It's a huge loss to the soul of the church and the feeling of being welcome," Lucas said while speaking with KCAL News, who noted that the relic is estimated to be worth between $10,000 and $15,000.
While they hope that the stolen artifact finds its way back to its rightful home, they're also hopeful that they can raise enough money to install a new security system to protect what their church has left.
"We'll continue to pray for the return of the cross and for the souls that trip upon this place and feel it's a place to break into."
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