THEY are the priceless treasures that survived everything three centuries could throw at them.

But thieves have succeeded where the elements could not.

Raiders stole the historic and irreplaceable books from Southampton's oldest church.

Five rare volumes dating back to the 17th century were taken from St Michael's Church at St Michael's Square, Lansdowne Hill.

The burglars forced their way into a glass cabinet inside the building and broke the chains that held the books - two volumes of Fox's Book of Martyrs, from 1646, two volumes of Annotations Upon the Books of the Old and New Testaments from 1651 and a Bible dated 1620.

The vicar of St Michael's, the Rev Belinda Searle-Barnes, said the theft had upset the church community.

"My reaction was complete surprise and dismay. We are all very sad. Four of the books have been in the church since the 1600s. It was a shock to find they weren't there," she said.

"These books are priceless. We cannot put a value on them, so to us they are priceless. That is the tragedy of it.

"We would value any help that Daily Echo readers can give to help find these books. Their loss is a loss to the church and also to the city and its heritage."

Det Con Joe Stock, of Southampton burglary squad, said: "These thieves have stolen history which cannot be replaced."

He said the books were all in bad condition with the bindings falling apart and the thieves may have difficulty selling them.

"If anybody, such as antiquarian dealers, comes across these books or hears about them, give us a call. We are appealing to the thieves to return them," he said.

The police can be contacted on 0845 045 4545.