The safe contained nothing of monetary value, however it did contain a collection of Church administration documents including many marriage, death and baptism records. The PSNI have reinforced the fact that these records are worth nothing to a random member of the public, but are of huge significance in the Parish.

The theft of the documents has sparked a public outcry and Revd Alastair Donaldson, Rector at the Parish has issued an appeal for their safe return.

“There was nothing of monetary value taken and if they ever got it opened I’m sure they would have been disappointed. This is precious information that is irreplaceable. It wouldn’t matter if you had all the money in the world, you couldn’t replace it. 

“If anybody notices anything that looks like a safe, please get in touch. There will be a small monetary reward if anyone does have any information and can come forward to help.”

Local Cllr Barry Doherty echoed Revd Donaldson’s appeal, asking for the return of the church records. “Church grounds and parochial houses, should to decent people be off limits. They should be places where things like that just don’t happen. I would echo the statement released by the parish asking that these things are left back, and in a lot of cases they are left back when the thieves realise there is nothing of monetary value. 

“There’s been an awful amount of break-in’s and suspicious activity in the area and that’s something that has to be combated first and foremost be the PSNI but it’s also something that people need to be careful about in how they protect their own property.”

Police in Enniskillen are appealing for information with regards to the burglary and are asking for anyone who noticed suspicious activity or has information regarding the whereabouts of the records to contact the non-emergency number 101.