'Something has to give' Thieves strike Ukrainian Church parking lot, taking religious relics

Members of St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Windsor are appealing for respect and the return of several religious relics they say were stolen from their pastor’s vehicle parked at the church hall.

Hall manager Kathleen Laird said thieves have struck the parking lot six times in the last three weeks, noting this latest rash of break-ins follow other acts of vandalism dating back to last winter.

“Please return them,” Laird implored. “No questions asked.”

Laird said some of the things missing include a wooden cross, sacraments for the faithful and other items used to perform religious acts such as last rites, prayers and a communion kit.

Laird noted all have little monetary value and were inside a brown briefcase, allegedly taken from the pastor’s locked vehicle Monday afternoon, with no indication of how the vehicle was accessed.

“This is where we draw the line. When you start taking relics from a church, something has to give,” Laird said. “It makes you feel violated. When you look in your vehicle and everything is dishevelled, it makes you feel violated.”

Religious relics stolen from St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral’s pastor’s vehicle parked at the church hall in Windsor, Ont. (Courtesy: Kathleen Laird)

Religious relics stolen from St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral’s pastor’s vehicle parked at the church hall in Windsor, Ont. (Courtesy: Kathleen Laird)

According to Laird, the congregation continues to wait for repairs to their commercial air conditioner that vandals rendered useless earlier this month.

“We've had another vehicle that had black bag, and they emptied everything out of that black bag and took the bag,” she said.

“We've had to chase so many people away from around the outside of the church. We're more than happy to help them. You need food? We'll give you food. We can't give you money, but we can give you food. We can give you compassion. But, this morning I found out that there was somebody that made a mess around the bus stop that had to be cleaned up and it wasn't a mess from a dog. It was a human.”

“It's getting worse,” Laird added.

She said security cameras captured someone they believe to be a person of interest, filing a report with the Windsor Police Service.

Police confirmed they received the report, but declined to comment any further saying the situation was still in the “very early stages.”

“This has to stop,” Laird told CTV News. “We asked for the police to kind of beef up their presence a little bit and they kept on saying that they would, but even at Christmas time we had them (vandals) take down our Christmas lights and our extension cords and peel them right on the step at the front.”

Laird asks anyone who sees anything suspicious in the parking lot to contact police, adding the church plans to install more cameras throughout the property.

“It's a delicate situation and this is where you need to take a step back and think of what they're going through,” she said. “At the same time, we're just asking if somebody finds them to return them.”