A £6,000 brass eagle has been returned to a Birmingham church after a shock discovery was made by a member of the public. An hooded intruder swiped the historic lectern from St Augustine's Church, Edgbaston , a fortnight ago. CCTV footage showed a man, who had a distinctive gait, heading straight over the eagle - which dates from 1868.
He covered it with a blanket before leaving within two minutes, at around 11am, on June 10. Following an appeal, the church received a call from someone in the community to say they traced the metal bird to a scrap metal dealer in the Black Country. It was mysteriously returned later that evening.
READ MORE: West Boulevard crash victim named as 'beautiful' Lucy in tributes left at scene The theft had been reported to West Midlands Police , but no arrests were made. Rev Matthew Tomlinson said: “There had been so much publicity about it, people would have been aware of what it was and it would’ve been very difficult to dispose of. A lot of people were very concerned about the loss of this eagle.
(Image: St Augustine's Church / SWNS) “It was made by a local church designer, John Hardman, and it’s quite a good example of his work. I’m quite an optimistic person so I did hold out hope that the eagle would turn up again, but I didn’t think it would turn up quite as quickly as it did. He added: "My feeling is if the doors are open, more people come in and that’s a good thing.
The vast majority of people are honest and do not steal from .
