NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Diocese officials are offering $50,000 for the return of a 127-year-old, multi-million dollar tabernacle stolen from a Brooklyn church five weeks ago.
The burglary happened sometime between May 26 and May 28 at St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church at 116 6th Ave. in Park Slope while it was under construction, police said.
The theif used tools to forcibly cut open the altar which was protected by three-inch steel doors and take a pure 18 karat gold tabernacle with jewels worth about $2,000,000, according to officials.
Cops said a marble statue of an angel at the church was also damaged with the thief removing its head.
The doors of the church were broken to get out but it remains unclear how the thief got inside.
On Tuesday, the Diocese announced the $50,000 reward on top of a $3,500 reward already offered by the NYPD.
“It’s priceless because it’s historical,” one of the church's pastors Rev. Frank Tumino told the Daily News after the theft. “The tabernacle would’ve been one of those things that was highly prized. And where its value is, is that the people of the parish donated it. It’s what people of our past gave us.”
Tumino also said the thief or thieves took the digital recordings of surveillance footage inside and outside the church.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
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