Thieves active with stripping valuable copper and bronze

EEMSHAVEN – A huge Dutch ship propeller weighing 8,000 kilograms made history recently when thieves looking for quick cash had the bronze part picked up by a truck and crane, to be delivered to a scrap dealer in the Groningen area. Both the trucking firm and the scrap dealer were surprised to learn they played a part in an illegal sale, with both claiming to have no knowledge of who was behind the transaction. The propeller was originally purchased by the Eemshaven Port Authority after archeology hobbyists discovered it in 2006 in the local waterway The Eems. The port authority wants to turn the propeller into a fitting statue at their site. Elsewhere in Groningen, thieves made off with fifteen meters of copper rain pipes from a Roman Catholic Church, prompting the police to pay extra attention to the building which has been stripped off valuables before.