Criminal damage and burglary at St Jude’s Church: police appeal

St Jude's is a former Anglican parish church which is now used by the New Testament Church of God.

The church was locked up on New Year's Day at 3.30am but when the minister returned at 11am he found that property had been stolen and damaged.

The church, which is a grade II listed building, suffered considerable damage.

A window was smashed, a Victorian wall painting was defaced with graffiti and antique Bibles were damaged.

English Heritage has estimated that it will cost more than £30,000 to repair the damage.

Furniture was broken and two guitars were also taken from the church.

"This is a terrible crime and obviously the minister and congregation are extremely upset," said Detective Constable Ben O'Reilly.

"I would ask the public to look closely at the images as some of the slogans may be recognisable to them and help identify the female responsible.

"The specific nature of the graffiti and the words used could be the key to identifying this person.

"Do you know anyone who came into possession of an electric guitar and a bass guitar?"

Police are looking for a white woman of slim build with blonde to light coloured shoulder-length hair who was seen in the area at the time of the offence.

If you have any information, call detectives on 020 7232 6111. Alternatively you can report information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.