Metal thieves steal 5,300-pound church bell

San Francisco, California – The bell at St. Mary’s Cathedral rang through the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. It survived when an arsonist torched the old cathedral in 1962. And although it was replaced with an electronic chime in the 1970s, for decades it stood strong on a wooden platform outside the rebuilt church. But sometime in the last month, metal thieves made off with the 122-year-old, 2.7-ton bell. “It is a very historic and valuable item, it is a memory of the Catholic Church in San Francisco,” said George Wesolek, communications director for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. “It is kind of an ignoble end for the bell if they succeed.” more