Thieves are being warned to stay away from a church roof ‘before they kill themselves’.

Wanstead United Reformed Church, in Nightingale Lane, Wanstead, had lead, valued at “between £40 to £50”, taken from its roof last week.

The damage caused flooding inside the church, ruining the £1.5 million refurbishment project completed in July 2012.

The church elder responsible for the property, Chris Walker, 63, said: “We are having a lead replacement roof put on now - a lead substitute.

“The new roof will not have value, so the vandals can not make a killing out of the roof and, hopefully, they won’t kill themselves by falling off the roof.”

Jeannette Briggs, a church member, described the vandalism as “senseless” and “petty thieving”.

She said: “The water has damaged the wood floors and doors. They would not get much money for the [amount of] lead they have taken, but because of the weather it has caused a huge amount of damage that we can ill afford.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting the crime reference number 4400787/14