Soaring value of silver sparks spate of thefts from golf membership trophy rooms
Criminals are targeting countryside golf clubs to smash and grab trophies as the value of silver rises.
Clubs have been alerted to a spike in break-ins, with burglars staging lightning raids in which they ignore expensive equipment to focus instead on trophy cabinets.
Police say it is because silver prices have rocketed by up to 160 per cent in the past 12 months.
Two clubs in Kent – the Ridge Golf Club near Maidstone and West Malling Golf Club – were hit within days of each other last month, with the crooks forcing their way in with a crowbar in both cases.
The same tactics were used in an early-morning raid last month at Surrey National golf club in Chaldon. Golf club trophy cabinets have also been targeted in recent raids in Scotland and near Coventry.
Gloucestershire Police issued a warning last year to urge golf and bowls clubs to be vigilant. It is believed burglars are getting away with thousands of pounds of silver from each incident.
Silver hit nearly £90 an ounce last month, though it has since slipped back to around £57, more than twice what it was this time last year.
Former Metropolitan Police detective Peter Bleksley said: ‘It’s very clear these raids are linked to the rising price of silver. This is organised crime.
Thieves broke into West Malling Golf Club in Kent last month to steal trophies as the price of silver sky rocketed
The Ridge Golf Club, also in Kent, was likewise hit by thieves targeting their trophy cabinets
‘Criminals are always innovating. They monitor the markets and think of ways to strike. They are always looking for that new target. It’s clear golf club trophy cabinets are that new target.
‘They are bypassing the expensive clubs, worth thousands, which may be marked, tracked and harder to sell on. Instead, they are going for the silver trophies.
‘I think this will be a very rude awakening to the golf world.
‘It’s also winter, nights are longer, golf clubs are often remote countryside locations.
‘So the risk of being caught is smaller. They would have worked all of this out. It’s an easy metal to then sell on and profit from easily.’
One golf club manager, who did not want to be named, said: ‘About 12 trophies were taken in one raid.
‘We feel sick. We didn’t think for a second that burglars would target our trophies. It feels like a real invasion of our privacy.’
