COLUMBIA, S.C. — A downtown Columbia church that runs the popular Greek Festival is dealing with a huge loss after one of their storage facilities was burgled and thieves made off with $50-60,000 worth of equipment.
To make matters worse, the missing kitchen equipment -- including multiple refrigerators, freezers, deep fryers, warming trays, and cooling tables, -- is what is needed for Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral to put on Columbia's annual Greek Festival.
Columbia Police Department (CPD) say the robbery took place at the church's storage facility in the 1900 block of Gregg Street in January. CPD officers said they were able to collect what they call "valuable" evidence at the scene.
For more than thirty years, volunteers at Holy Trinity have served up Greek dishes such as souvlaki, spanakopita, and a wide variety of desserts to thousands of visitors during the Greek Festival in September. Columbia Police say the victims told them that the stolen items were more valuable to them than the cost of the merchandise.
Police Chief Skip Holbrook encourages anyone with information about the theft to contact CrimeStoppers or submit a tip to p3tips.