00:01For generations, this bronze bell heralded church services and community gatherings at Malala.
00:08Weddings, funerals, baptisms, family reunions.
00:13Now it's gone, believed stolen from St Peter's Anglican Church earlier this month.
00:19A fair bit of sacrilege when you decimate a church, I always feel.
00:24It's a bit of an insult to the people that attend.
00:28The bell is a treasured piece of local heritage.
00:31It felt as though we'd really lost something special.
00:36The Mayor has put a call out for the bell to be returned
00:39and the parish community is hoping recyclers will be on the lookout for the large church bell.
00:45It's the latest in a string of unusual metal thefts across the state.
00:50Plaques were recently stolen from Rose Park and Tranmere.
00:53In August, a bust of suffragist Mary Lee was taken from this city plinth.
00:58While in May, organ pipes, balustrades and wiring were taken from a former church at Marden.
01:04This is obviously a new thing that people are targeting.
01:07If we were to see someone bringing something like that in, we would raise alarm bells.
01:14Parliament has passed laws cracking down on the sale of stolen metal.
01:18They're not due to take effect until 2028.
01:21So the government's working with police to speed up the timeline.
01:25But the offender has to be caught first.
01:28And it's feared the laws will increase paperwork and discourage recycling.
01:32We don't think it should always fall upon depots.
01:36Yeah, we want to support harsher penalties for repeat offenders.
01:41We want to support harsher penalties for a lot of civil rights which will be possible.
01:41We want to support harsher penalties for a lot of civil rights.
01:43We can support harsher penalties for a lot of civil rights.
01:43In a sense, we will ask that it is the same number of civil rights.
01:44Now, I'll make sure that it is the current situation.
01:44In a sense, you'll find a couple of civil rights.
