Two gold bars worth more than 150,000 euros were found in the church of Wambrechies in July. An anonymous note indicated that they were to be used to finish renovations to the establishment.
An unexpected gift. At the end of July, two gold ingots accompanied by an anonymous letter were discovered by the priest in the church of Wambrechiesin the North.
“I am getting ready to go on vacation and then I receive a phone call from the parish priest who wants to see me,” recalls Sébastien Brogniart, mayor of Wambrechies, at the microphone of BFM Grand Lille.
Before adding: “He tells me that Saint-Antoine has found something. He asks me to come, but I tell him ‘I’m going on vacation’. He tells me that what he found are two ingots gold.”
More than 150,000 euros
The treasure, worth 152,540 euros, is accompanied by an anonymous note specifying that the money must be used to complete the renovation of the church. The latter is infested by a fungus called dry rot and has already cost the city 1.4 million euros in work.
In the city, opinions are divided. “I would have liked to discover them, then renovating the church is good. Well, it was renovated not very long ago. But yes why not”, declares Jean-Philippe, a resident of the municipality.
“It’s extraordinary, it’s incredible. There is a lot of work in progress, it will help finance this work,” adds another, Henri.
The money from the ingots, validated by the Wambrechies municipal council this week, must be used for the finishing touches.
Anne Dufort-Cornillet, with Marine Langlois
