A church has fallen victim to stone thieves who have dug up part of an historic graveyard path.

Thousands of pounds worth of Yorkshire stone slabs have been stolen from the paths at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Mirfield.

Others have been dug up and left laying on the ground.

And the Vicar of Mirfield, the Rev Hugh Baker said it was not the first time the paths had been targeted.

He said the latest theft appeared to have taken place some time on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Mr Baker said: “They have been taken from the section that runs below the wall with the steps in to the East of the church and some from the path that runs down to the East from there to the lower graveyard.

“A quick estimate shows that some 20 large slabs, measuring approximately 5’x3’, and some 10 small slabs 2’x2’ approximately have been taken.

“This equates to about 31.5 metre square. I am informed that a good deal on Yorkshire stone is about £100 per m2 so in value this is between £3,000 and £4,000.

“Sadly we are not alone. The Methodist Church has recently had similar stones taken from Trinity Church in Mirfield and every time I go down the cut-through footpath to Crowlees School there seems to be a few more slabs gone.”

Mr Baker said an insurance claim was in the process of being compiled.

He added: “It’s depressing. Your heart sinks every time these things happen. There must be a gang going around locally and nationally.

“The path from which they have been taken is a well-used one and to replace the stone, like-for-like, could be a very expensive job. It could mean that that path is unusable.

“I have been here five years and during that time we have certainly had two thefts of Yorkshire stone at St Mary’s as well as the theft of lead from St Mary’s and St Paul’s.

“We constantly monitor our security and if there are ways in which we can improve it we will do that.”