Historic school bell stolen

Police are urging thieves to return a historic school bell.

A Blenheim caretaker noticed the large, red cast-iron bell missing from its mount at the front gate when he turned up to work at Redwoodtown School yesterday as pupils enjoyed their school holiday.

A police spokesman said the bell had big historical value for the school as it was gifted by the local Methodist Church in 1913 and had hung in the school grounds ever since.

He said it was very heavy and would have taken about four people to lift from its mount.

Police wanted to hear from anyone who knew anything about bell's disappearance and said it would be disappointing if it was sold as scrap metal as it would be worth at most $100.

- NZPA