He was caught by a stamp from the convent of San Francesco hidden in his sock and by the footage from the cameras. A 45-year-old, originally from San Nicolò d'Arcidano, was reported for aggravated theft and damage: he is said to be responsible for the raid on the church and a series of thefts committed one after the other last Wednesday . The man is currently hospitalized in the Psychiatry department of San Martino.

According to the reconstruction by the military, the man, passing by the construction site of the former convent, broke through a wooden panel on Wednesday evening and entered the church. Here he damaged the altar, threw flowers and candles on the ground and then fled, taking away a thurible and a basket for holy water. The theft was discovered the next morning by the friars, and the carabinieri immediately began investigating.

The military personnel of the Company and the Ris of Cagliari, analyzing the videos (thanks also to the collaboration of the local police), immediately identified the person responsible, already known to the police. And they reconstructed the movements of the 45-year-old who on Wednesday began the thefts at the Arst station in via Cagliari where at 7:15 pm he stole a fire extinguisher. Seven minutes later he was filmed by the cameras in via Duomo, where he managed to take a black backpack from a bike, immediately after two helmets tied under the seat of a scooter. At 7:26 pm he was immortalized while entering the church of San Francesco passing through the gate of the courtyard of the former convent, from where he came out twenty minutes later: motorcycle helmet in hand and a silver-colored object.

The military then ascertained that the 45-year-old went to the emergency room shortly after the thefts, where he immediately seemed particularly agitated and aggressive, so much so that the intervention of the Carabinieri was requested. The man had been discharged, but on Saturday morning he had been accompanied by his parents to the hospital and on that occasion too the atmosphere had immediately become heated. The police officer of the permanent post had requested the intervention of his colleagues from the Flying Squad who found the stamp of the church on the 45-year-old. During the searches in the house in Arcidano, the clothes and shoes worn on the evening of the thefts were found. The search for the rest of the stolen goods is still underway, in collaboration with the Carabinieri of the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit of Cagliari, the images of the stolen sacred objects will be inserted into the database of stolen cultural goods. In the meantime, the Carabinieri have appealed to parish priests and diocesan officials to install alarm and video surveillance systems in places of worship.

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