METAL thieves have stripped £70,000 worth of lead from the roof of a South Yorkshire museum.
Staff at Clifton Park Museum discovered the theft when the roof started leaking during a rainfall.
The roof was checked and it was discovered a large section of lead had been stolen.
The building is listed, the cost to replace the lead is estimated at around £70,000.
Karl Battersby, director of environment and development services at Rotherham Council, which runs the museum, said: “Clearly we are very disappointed that thieves have targeted this historic building and caused damage which will cost many thousands of pounds to repair.
“Temporary repair work has been carried out and the museum remains open with staff continuing to welcome visitors.
“All councils have a shared interest in preventing and seeing effective enforcement of heritage crime and the council is in the process of signing up to the Alliance to Reduce Crime against Heritage, a new voluntary national network which will take forward initiatives to tackle heritage crime.
“This will help to reduce the types of crime that causes damage to or interferes with the enjoyment of heritage assets in England.
“We are also working with the police to help catch those responsible and would urge anyone with information to contact them.”
The museum is in Clifton Park, Clifton Rotherham – which won the Heritage and Conservation Award in the 2012 Landscape Institute Awards last year after an eight-year £7.5 million restoration project.
n Call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111, quoting incident number 204 of March 8.