Raphaël Hourdeaux and Tony Paupière, a French couple in their 30s, ransacked 29 churches across northern France over three months last summer, smashing donation boxes, stealing communion plates, and making off with chalices and monstrances. Their spree coincided with a wider wave of security failures at French cultural sites, from the Louvre's $100 million crown jewels heist to a $11 million porcelain theft in Limoges.

The pair relied on shockingly simple methods, checking online whether churches were closed before breaking in with a crowbar. Police tracked them via cellphone geolocation, raided their home, and recovered 46 items, some of which the couple had been using as home decorations. They sold other pieces to an antique dealer and melted some down for scrap metal.

A court sentenced the couple to three years' prison, two suspended, with a year of home detention under electronic monitoring. Prosecutors said the duo sold some items to a local antique dealer convicted of handling stolen goods. Many churches lacked detailed inventories, making it nearly impossible to prove ownership. A September proceeding will determine compensation amounts for the affected communities.