A Waterloo man has been convicted of stealing items from an historic church and selling them as scrap metal, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. 39 year old Jake Grinstead was found guilty of third degree Burglary on Thursday. Grinstead had a 76 year old woman he knew give him a ride to Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church on multiple occasions where he would remove bronze plaques from the wall. He then would have the woman drive him to Push Iron and Metals where he would have her sell the items as scrap metal. The staff there became suspicious and alerted the authorities. Police say that the church, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is often a target of vandalism and theft. The building is not used for services, with the congregation leasing another building. Mount Moriah is in poor shape structurally, a staircase collapsed during the investigation of this case. It has been listed as one of the most endangered structures on the National Register of Historic Places.
