A COMMUNITY centre in Oxford was stripped of its fencing as metal thieves tore out more than 45 metres of plastic-coated wire.

It is estimated the metal is worth just £20 as scrap but repairs will cost much more.

The thieves struck overnight at the Littlemore Community Centre, in Giles Road, with the fence found missing on Saturday morning when the caretaker arrived to open up.

Littlemore Community Association secretary Dorian Hancock said: “It’s chain-link fencing. It’s not exactly the world’s heaviest metal.

“I have never in my life heard of people taking fencing like this.

“We had the lead stripped off the roof at the community centre before and we had to replace it with a non-metal alternative, but now it’s the chain-link fencing.

“I just hope a picture in the paper will jog people’s memory.

“At the moment there’s a certain sort of fashion for people to steal metal.

“It’s very thoughtless, mean and selfish and the number of people who get caught are very small. I feel sad, not angry.”

Oxford City Council officers are now arranging installation of replacement fencing at the centre.

Mr Hancock said: “Why on earth would you take it? It seems ridiculous.”

Littlemore Baptist Church Minister Andrew Bevan said: “I think it’s disappointing to see somebody targeting the community centre, it’s a shared thing and in a way it is like it has been stolen from everybody.

“This just leaves a bad feeling. A lot of the things that go on there are for children.

“There is another church that meets there, the Church of God of Prophecy.”

Metal thieves recently also targeted Littlemore Youth FC’s clubhouse on the Cowley recreation ground, off Long Lane and Herschel Crescent.

In two break-ins there last December, burglars stole goalposts, wiring, piping and even the changing room sink, causing thousands of pounds of damage.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said that the theft at the Community Centre had been reported and that neighbourhood officers were investigating.