Two men arrested in historic church bell theft

Authorities in southern Minnesota arrested two men in connection with the theft of a historic church bell near Le Center.

Le Sueur County Sheriff Dave Tietz said investigators recovered parts of a bell believed to date back more than a century. It hung in a church that burned in 1972.

The congregation recovered the damaged bell from fire debris and displayed it at St. Paul Lutheran Church at German Lake. It was part of a landscaping display at the front entrance of the rebuilt church and reportedly weighed more than 200 pounds.

The bell was reported stolen last week by a member of the church checking on the sanctuary during a cold snap. The sheriff's office offered a $500 reward for information about the theft.

A statement from the sheriff's office said the solid brass bell was cut up and sold to a scrap yard, although authorities recovered some pieces of it.

Two men — one from St. Peter, Minn., and another from Kasota, Minn. — were taken into custody and released. But they may yet face felony theft and property damage charges.