A lightning protection system worth around £10,000 has been stolen from Kilwinning’s Abbey church in an apparent precious metal theft.

Police say the theft could have taken place anytime between August 2017-18 but had only just been reported to them this month.

At a meeting of Kilwinning Community Council last week, Sergeant Ben Brizell said: “There was a theft from a domestic property at Kilwinning Abbey Church, the lightening protection system has gone missing.

“The piece of kit they reckon was valued at £10,000, but detecting that is going to be quite hard.

“It was most likely scrapped in somewhere, which is a potential avenue of inquiry.”

Anyone with any information can contact Kilwinning police via 101.