[UPDATED] Cake, ice cream, $5,000 equipment stolen from Penal church

Thieves broke into the Divine Rock Presbyterian Church at Penal and raided a refrigerator taking ice cream and cake bought for children of its Sunday School class. They also stole equipment from the church.

After last Sunday’s service at the church on Penal Rock Road, members secured the building and left. At about 6 pm on Friday, chairperson Karen Ramdin and other members returned to have a prayer meeting and choir practice. But they saw the locks on the front doors damaged and the building had been broken into.

Ramdin said, “The place was ransacked. Probably they were looking for money, but it did not have any. They took items like ice cream and cake from the fridge. They even tried to remove an air-conditioning unit from the wall. They were all on the altar and opened the cupboards with the communion sets.”

A speaker box and an amplifier valued $5,000 were also missing. Barrackpore and Princes Town police searched for evidence and the culprits.

Ramdin said about three years ago, people stole an empty water tank from the front of the churchyard. She said there are many unemployed young people who have been accused of theft in the area.

She added: “We cannot say who did it because we did not see. These people need prayers. It is a pity they did not take a Bible. Our reverend is Ria Jimidar. No one has even been arrested for stealing the tank. ”

Ted Jhilmit, who lives nearby at Bobb Trace, said there has been an increase in reports of theft in the area. The elder of the Penal Rock Road Seventh-day Adventist Church said when he heard Divine Rock had been burgled, he immediately went to check on his church.

Jhilmit said, “We did not see anything strange. Today I told the congregation about the incident and encouraged them to support our Presbyterian brothers and sister.”

He also had a message for the culprits, “Apart from turning to God, be more constructive. Try to earn an honest living, seek employment. There are lots of lands around these young folks to get involved in agriculture. Probability they just don’t want to work and think thieving is easier.”

Jhilmit is also a member of the Moruga Hill Rice Multi-purpose Co-operative Society Ltd and is encouraging people to use unoccupied lands to plant rice.

“We are trying to make it into some viable for everybody in TT. Penal Rock Road stands to benefit from this initiative as well as people from Cedros to Mayaro."

Up to Saturday night, no one was arrested for the Divine Rock robbery.

This story has been updated with additional details. It was first published under the headline, 'Thieves steal $5,000 in equipment from church'. The original story is below.

A church at Penal Rock Road in Penal has been burgled and police are calling on the public to help find the culprits.

A report said that members of Divine Rock Presbyterian secured the building last Sunday after the day's services. A female member returned on Friday evening and saw that the building had been broken into. She contacted police and officers from the Barrackpore station responded.

On checking inside, they discovered a speaker box and an amplifier valued $5,000 were missing. Barrackpore police are investigating.