A VICAR has branded the work of thieves who stripped metals from his new church roof just days before its £300,000 restoration was due to be completed as "desecration".

Rev Richard Cowles, the vicar at St Mary's Church in Garsington, said he felt "sickened" by the theft of copper and lead from the church roof, particularly as most of the money raised to pay for it had come from the hard work of villagers.

He said he feared the church had been targeted for its metal because of a dramatic hike in the market value of copper and lead.

Thames Valley Police confirmed there has been an increase in the number of scrap metal thefts in the area recently.

Rev Cowles said copper and led from the roof of the church had been taken and damage caused to stonework of the roof. He estimates the damage costing between £40,000 and £50,000 to repair.

The new roof was due to be unveiled at the end of the month, but the theft will mean this is delayed.

Rev Cowles said: "The church has been under scaffolding for about a year and work has been done on it for about six months, so it's a big project that's costing almost £300,000 in total.

"Much of the money has been raised by local people and through the efforts of our church community, which just makes this even worse. The church is a much-loved building in the village. It is more than 800 years old."

He added: "Our church is in a very vulnerable position. When people deliberately damage it like this it does feel like desecration. I am very saddened people should do this."