Family steals own roof

A Polish family in a block of flats stole their own roof after working out they would not get wet if it rained.

The theft was in the town of Bytom in south-west of Poland where extra cops have been drafted after authorities complained thefts were now such a problem that nothing was safe.

A police spokesman said: "One family occupying the ground floor of an apartment block worked out that they would not get flooded if there was no roof on the building, so they stole it."

Lightning conductors, gutterings, drainpipes and even radiators had been stolen from public buildings in recent months, they added.

They said crooks were stealing from building sites at night after workers had gone home, as well as empty schools and council buildings left deserted during the summer and from people's houses.

A spokesman for the local council said: "The thieves are stealing so much, that at this rate there will be nothing of the town left."