The cold-hearted theft of a Dunedin church’s log splitter will leave down-on-their-luck families feeling the frost for the rest of winter.
Dunedin City Baptist Church caretaker Malcolm Cowan and co-worker Harold Thompson used the log splitter from the church grounds in Concord to provide families in need with free firewood to keep warm in the cold Dunedin winter.
The log splitter was paid for through donations by people who supported the church starting the programme.
However, the theft last week has stalled the project.
"We were quite gutted when we came up here on Thursday.
"The only remains were the wee linkages that had been cut; that has been locking and securing it."
He estimated it would cost around $4000 to replace.
The church to date had given away about 130cum of wood, Mr Cowan said.
They contacted schools in the area to find out which families were struggling and offered them free wood, he said.
"We fill a trailer up and take them some free firewood, which they really appreciate.
"[We give away] about 2.2cum at a time on our trailer."
"We can keep ringing up the wood that we've got, but we can't split it unless we do it all by hand," Mr Cowan said.
The logs come from City Forests, which donates the logs rejected for export at Port Chalmers.
Mr Cowan had put a "pretty significant" sign outside the entrance to the church, appealing to the public for any help in locating the log splitter.
The Dunedin Baptist Church in Concord asked anyone who had any knowledge of the stolen log splitter to contact them or police.
By Iaine Priestley
