Vandals put future of city's 'symbolic' church in jeopardy

The warning has come from the Rector of Southampton, the Rev Ian Johnson, after ten windows were smashed at St Mary's Church at the weekend.

Now he is warning that, unless things change,

the church, which is

just about to celebrate 50 years since its rebuilding following Nazi bombing, may not be there to see its 60th.

Staff discovered the damage at the St Mary Street church early on Sunday morning as they arrived to prepare for services at other churches in the city.

Rev Johnson said vandals had thrown stones found in the churchyard through the windows with such force that the stones had wrecked the leading as well as the glass.

The damage is likely to cost about £2,000 to fix and has left church leaders exasperated, as they say the £10,000 cost of installing protective meshing over the windows - as they have been forced to do

with their stained glass windows - is just too much.

Rev Johnson said: "I'm getting very weary about all this. Without turning the place into a fortress we really are quite vulnerable, and quite frankly I don't know what we can do.

"In a few weeks' time we celebrate St Mary's 50th anniversary, and to be honest at the moment I doubt we will be here to see its 60th.

"This is simply down to the fact that the cost of maintenance is just getting out of hand, and the time and cost it takes to fix things like this is horrendous.

"This is clearly stupid vandalism by people who don't understand the consequences of their actions, and they are putting the future of this church in serious jeopardy."

Bosses at the church have now called in the police to investigate

the incident, and are promising to take action against anyone found responsible.

St Mary's is Southampton's Civic Church, and as such is regarded by many as the symbol of the city.

It was extensively rebuilt over 15 years following the Nazi bombing of the city in November 1940 that destroyed it.