Church roof theft reports in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire have doubled as criminal gangs turn their eye increasingly to expensive metals such as lead roofs.
Church authorities have called on the police to provide more protection, noting that replacing the roofs can cost as much as £30,000.
A spokesman for the Church of England in Nottinghamshire said: "In a normal year we might expect no more than 20 of these raids but we have already had 40.
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