POLICE have stamped on fears that a 'hole-in-the-wall gang' carried out a daring daylight robbery in Dromore, making off with a mailbox and its contents.
The decades-old post box, set into the wall at Rath House Antiques on the Princes Street/Mossvale Road junction, disappeared during Saturday, July 18.
Thought to date as far back as the late 1950s/early 1960s, the box itself has some value, though angry locals, shocked that thieves would be so brazen as to wrench the box out of the wall in broad daylight, were equally outraged on behalf of anyone who might have used the box.
One man who contacted The Leader, said, "It (the post box) is believed to be worth £200-£300 as it is very old and totally authentic.
"Of course there is also the value of whatever contents were inside and many residents of Dromore may have used it between the time it was emptied on Saturday lunch-time and when it was stolen."
The 'theft' was of course reported to police, but it has since emerged that the Post Office itself removed the box, reportedly because it was loose.
Ironically, perhaps, Mr. P.J. McCallister of Rath House Antiques, whose premises now sport a gaping hole in the wall, sells Chinese made replicas of the missing box, sought after as ornamentation in much the same way as the old-style red telephone boxes.
The original boxes, about a foot-and-a-half high and 14/15 inches deep, he said, featured a cast iron front and a formidable five-lever lock and were sought after.
He recalled that another such box had been cut off its stand and stolen in Dromore some time back.
Now that it's known thieves were not in fact at work in this case, moves are underway to have the missing box put back, the local DUP having written to the Post Office pointing out that the building in question is in fact a listed building.
In a joint statement Lagan Valley MP and MLA Jeffrey Donaldson and MLA Edwin Poots said, "We are very concerned and have raised this issue with Royal Mail following the removal of a post box from B1 listed property.
"A considerable hole has been left in the building and a meeting has been arranged next week with Royal Mail to look at this issue with the aim of finding a resolution agreeable to local residents, many of whom who have cotnacted the office."