Why are old post boxes suddenly going missing?

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-60075415

There are more than 100,000 post boxes across the UK. But in recent weeks, villages across East Anglia have reported their post boxes missing. Why?

Rickinghall is a mid Suffolk village with a proud history.

It was the birthplace of a Canadian prime minister and the home of Basil Brown, the archaeologist who discovered the Sutton Hoo Anglo Saxon ship burial site in 1939.

But a part of its history has now gone astray.

On 7 January, the post box in Hinderclay Road was stolen. It was to be the first in a series of post box thefts reported across Suffolk.

Boxes have been swiped from Wixoe, Cowlinge, Hawkeden, Stoke by Clare, Chedburgh and Depden Green.

In Norfolk, post boxes have been stolen in Runcton Holme, Thornham and Ashwicken.

It is thought some of the post boxes stolen have been sold to collectors online

Are these thefts a new form of metal theft, the likes of which have plagued the lead roofs of churches for many years?

Possibly but unlikely because the boxes are made from fairly low value cast iron.

Officers believe something more sophisticated is going on - the deliberate targeting of older post boxes with a view to selling them on to collectors.

In the Norfolk cases, two of the post boxes bore the Royal Cypher "GR", meaning they were put up during the reign of George V.

The two post boxes are thought to have been stolen to be sold online.

In Suffolk too, police believe the thefts are linked because the boxes being stolen are the older ones taken from remote and rural areas.

Signs of angle grinder and chainsaw use are often left behind at the crime scene.

"Historic post boxes are a favourite target of these thieves at this time," he said. "We know the Georgian ones are more valuable because of their age but also Victorian ones are being stolen.

"They vary in value. They can go from a few hundred pounds up to thousands of pounds.

"It is a piece of traditional British history from an idyllic rural scene. Some people really value that, just like a fine artwork.

"We see a public amenity but others do not see it that way sadly."

Wixoe resident Martin Smith said he was "really upset" that a thief had stolen a part of his village's history and a vital amenity

"I am really annoyed about it," says Wixoe resident Martin Smith. "It is part of the village community and I am really upset that someone thinks they can come into our village and steal something that has been here for decades, since George VI really.

"We do use it, people do still send letters. The nearest post box to here is about four miles away in Sturmer [in Essex].

"It would be a loss to the village if [the Royal Mail] don't replace it."