“MINDLESS” vandals have damaged a length of metal wire which keeps an iconic Aberystwyth church free from the threat of fire by lightning strike.

The conductor metal, which links the top of the church tower at St Michael’s Church on Laura Place to the ground to act as an “earth” in the case of a lightning strike was found to have been torn away.

St Michael’s reverend Mones Farah said it was only by chance that the church noticed, but now face a repair bill to make sure the building is safe for worshippers and the public.

Last month it was reported that a quantity of lead flashing was stolen from the roof of St Padarn’s School, but it is not known if the two thefts are linked.

“One of our guys was just wandering around the building and happened to notice the conductor no longer reached the floor,” Rev Farah told the Cambrian News.

“It was only on the off chance we noticed so we are very lucky that lightning had not actually hit the building in the meantime.”

Rev Farah said it was “simply mindless damage”, that probably occurred overnight when the building was empty.

Around six feet of metal from the ground up was ripped off.

Having funded a complete renovation of the roof over the past year to “secure the future of the building for generations”, the church now faces forking out more money to pay for the repair.

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