Church members hoping whoever stole truckload of organ pipes will repent, shipment can be recovered

Spencer Organ Company owner Joseph Rotella said in a police report that the pipes have limited value

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Members of a Tennessee church are hoping and praying that whoever stole a moving truck over the weekend will repent after finding out what’s inside: old organ pipes, and lots of them.

Calvary Episcopal Church in downtown Memphis had loaded a Penske truck with nearly 2,000 organ pipes for transport to Spencer Organ Company in Boston, where they were to undergo restoration, news outlets reported. Instead the church discovered on Sunday that the truck and the almost 90-year-old pipes were gone.

Spencer Organ Company owner Joseph Rotella said in a police report that the pipes have limited value to whoever has them now.

“They have amazing intrinsic value to this project, they are historic. It is going to be very hard to duplicate them, but they don’t have a lot of value outside of this organ,” Rotella said.

A statement posted on the church’s website says Memphis Police and Penske are involved in the search for the missing truck. The church also relayed that Rotella said industry colleagues have experienced similar thefts.

“In those cases, the thieves realized that the contents of the van had little to no street value and abandoned the vehicles,” the statement said. “We hope for a similar resolution in the days to come.”