ATLANTA, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A Georgia church says it hopes to rebuild after burglars stole kitchen supplies and food and destroyed wiring and plumbing two weeks before Christmas.
Thieves targeted Kingdom City Church in DeKalb County and stole equipment, supplies and food while trashing the church's basement, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported Friday.
"We're about giving and not taking, and yet someone comes in and takes from us and deprives not just us, but deprives us of the opportunity to help people," Bishop James Harper, the church's pastor, said.
Church officials say they believe the burglars struck either Monday or Tuesday when no church staffers were in the building.
Church members suspected something was amiss when they arrived for Wednesday evening Bible study and there was no heat and no water in the restrooms.
They went downstairs into the basement to investigate.
"Water was gushing from the ceiling," Mona Harper, the bishop's wife, said.
"Everything was cut and gone -- furniture, the kitchen, all the copper in the ceiling, the plumbing lines through the entire church, the entire kitchen except for the sink, and food, snacks, silverware, everything," she said.
A water heater, water fountain, air conditioner, dehumidifier, stove, refrigerator, microwave, griddle and broiler also were taken, she said.
The church has filed a burglary report with the DeKalb County Police Department and put in an insurance claim.
"Now we're trying to regroup and doing what we've been called to do, and make a difference to the community," Bishop Harper said. "We don't want just two or three people to stop us."
