Stolen Italian Chapel plaques to be replaced

The Italian Chapel in Orkney. Picture: Contributed

The theft of the historic religious plaques, donated to the island by the Italian prisoner of war who masterminded the creation of the Nissen-hut chapel, sparked condemnation worldwide.

More than three months after the break-in police are still trying to track down the culprits and find the stolen plaques and the custodians of the wartime chapel decided to commission replacements.

The new wooden plaques have been carved in the same small village in northern Italy as the originals and one of the carvers has come of retirement to help.

A plaque similar to the ones that were stolen. Picture: PA

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They depict three Stations of the Cross are marked with the Roman numerals IV, VI and X.

They were gifted to Orkney by the chapel’s designer Domenico Chiocchetti in 1964.

His daughter, Letizia, the honorary president of the Italian Chapel Preservation Committee, has supervised the creation of the new plaques in her father’s home village of Moena.

Committee secretary John Muir said the replacements are now ready but it would take about a fortnight for them to be brought to their new home.

He said: “The plaques are ready now but it’s going to be a while before we get them back to Orkney.

“It’s going to be quite a complicated process.

“A friend of mine happens to be on holiday in Italy and he is going to meet up with Letizia, who will hand over the new plaques.

“They’ll be brought back to Scotland and then we will need to get them over to Orkney.

“It’s going to be about two weeks before I get to see them.”

Police continue to investigate the theft, which happened between 6.30pm on August 6 and 11am the following day.

The chapel on the tiny island of Lamb Holm was designed by prisoner of war and artist Chiocchetti and built by him and his fellow Italian PoWs during World War Two.

It is now the island’s biggest tourist attraction and attracts more than 100,000 visitors a year.

The Italian PoWs were captured in North Africa and brought to Orkney to work on the Churchhill Barriers to protect ships moored in Scapa Flow.

When the barriers were complete the prisoners were shipped out in September 1944 but Chiocchetti remained behind for two weeks to complete the font which he was working on.

He returned to Orkney several times after the war when the chapel needed repairs.

He carved the 14 Stations of the Cross from mahogany and brought them as a gift in 1964. He died in 1999.