Thieves target bronze bells from French churches Published duration 28 August 2019

image copyright Getty Images image caption Churches in Provence have been targeted by thieves over the past month

Police in France are hunting for thieves who have stolen bells from a number of churches in Provence over the past month.

The towns of Ginasservis, Brue-Auriac and Esparron-de-Pallieres have all had bronze bells stolen from their churches.

The public prosecutor said that the bells are either being sold on or melted down for the bronze.

It is unclear if the robberies are all linked.

On 21 July, Ginasservis, about 80km (49 miles) northeast of Marseilles, was the first town to be targeted by thieves. Bells dating from 1867 and 1737 were stolen from two different chapels in the town, Le Parisien reports.

Two of the bells are engraved in Latin which makes them identifiable.

Thieves took a bell from a 12th century church in Brue-Auriac, weighing 85kg and standing 10m high.

"The chapel is outside the centre of the village, which is probably why it was targeted," the town's mayor, Andre Rousselet told AFP. He added that the bell had probably already been melted down as inscriptions would have made the bell harder to sell.

Last week, the 12th century church in Esparron-de-Pallieres was targeted by thieves.

Nicolas Gueury, president of the European Conservatory for Tower Bells told Bloomberg that the bells pre-dating the 1793 French Revolution are precious . At the time. revolutionaries ordered the destruction of nearly 100,000 bells across the country.

"But they are tough to sell," he added.

media caption Lucerne will hear the sound of a ringtone rather than bells over the next few days