On 18 December 2025, the Legnica District Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against 30-year-old Beniamin W.—the perpetrator of, among other things, the theft of a cross from a church building in Legnica, thereby offending the religious feelings of members of a Greek Catholic parish, as well as other property crimes.

A hearing was held on 20 January before the District Court in Legnica. The court closed the evidentiary proceedings and gave the parties the floor. – The prosecutor sought a finding of guilt and a combined sentence of four years’ imprisonment, as well as an obligation to repair the damage caused. During the speech by the attorney for one of the injured parties, the evidentiary proceedings were reopened because the amount of the damage had to be verified – reports Liliana Łukasiewicz of the Legnica District Prosecutor’s Office. – The next hearing has been scheduled for 17 February 2026.

The accused is a resident of Legnica. He had been convicted before. He is addicted to methamphetamine. In May 2025, he stopped working. In the summer, he embarked on a life of crime. Initially, in July, August and September 2025, he committed several burglaries near his place of residence, including two cellars and a vehicle containing footwear and clothing. The spokeswoman said: – In this way, he took four rims with tires worth PLN 3,000 for the purpose of appropriation and sold them at a scrap-metal collection point. In addition, he stole bicycles, a threading machine and jacks worth more than PLN 3,400 from a cellar belonging to another person. Two bicycles were found in his apartment. He sold the threading machine at a pawnshop. From another injured party’s vehicle, he stole 28 pairs of shoes and a skirt worth more than PLN 4,700. Some of the shoes were later found in his apartment, where he sold them online.

Additionally, in September 2025, Beniamin W. vandalized and stole railway cables, selling them at a scrap-metal collection point after burning off the insulation. Cutting and stealing the cables disrupted train traffic and significantly reduced train speeds.

That same month, the accused came up with the idea of stealing a valuable element of a religious building. The goal? To melt it down and sell it. W. searched for various churches in Lower Silesia. Ultimately, he decided to steal the cross from the dome of the Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Legnica, believing that it was made of silver.

Prosecutor:

For this purpose—initially alone—he constructed a ladder and on 4 September 2025 climbed onto the roof of the sacristy, from which he planned to reach the main roof and the dome. When the alarm went off, he was forced to flee, but his actions damaged the façade, gutter and motion sensor, causing losses of PLN 6,356.85.

He then decided that he needed a better ladder, which he stole on 9 September 2025 from a car parked in the city, removing it and causing losses of PLN 1,639. With this ladder, on the night of 13–14 September 2025, he got onto the church roof by climbing over the wall from the cemetery side. After reaching the building’s main roof, he drilled around twenty holes in the dome and placed construction anchors in them. He used them to reach the area around the cross, cut it off, dropped it to the ground and left it in the bushes. After several days, he took the cross, broke it and realized that…it was not made of silver.

However, as a result of his actions, additionally offending the religious feelings of the faithful of the Greek Catholic Parish of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Legnica, he caused losses amounting to PLN 276,744.23 to the detriment of the above-mentioned parish.

After Beniamin W. was detained in connection with this incident on 16 September 2025, preventive measures were applied against him in the form of police supervision combined with appropriate obligations and a ban.

However, after the above-mentioned man committed further property crimes in October 2025, including additional thefts of railway cables, which again disrupted train services and forced PKP PLK SA’s Railway Lines Plant in Wrocław, the infrastructure manager, to introduce restrictions on railway routes, including travel under written orders and telephone notification of trains, Beniamin W. was temporarily detained after his arrest on 20 October 2025.

It was established that the accused sold some of the stolen cables at scrap-metal collection points after burning off their insulation, receiving only PLN 700.88 for them. Investigators:

The total damage to PKP property connected with the theft of railway infrastructure elements and their damage by cutting the cables, the need to repair them and train delays, resulting from the criminal conduct on 1 and 11 September 2025 and 3, 4, 5 and 14 October 2025, amounted to PLN 269,193.29.

The accused had admitted from the beginning to committing the crimes with which he was charged and gave explanations consistent with the established facts.
Court-appointed psychiatrists found that he was sane, but diagnosed the accused with drug addiction and secondary personality and behavioral disorders. Given his current state of health, Beniamin W. is able to stand trial.

During the investigation, numerous analytical activities were carried out to determine whether the accused had acted with other people or on someone’s orders. The contents of the accused’s phone were analyzed in detail, and the people with whom he had been in contact were checked. These activities yielded no evidence, or even circumstantial indications, suggesting that others had inspired or incited him, that he had acted jointly with others, or that he had acted from a motive other than financial gain.

Beniamin W. has primary education and no occupation. He had previously been convicted of property crimes. For the crimes with which the accused is charged, he faces a sentence of between one and ten years’ imprisonment.

The District Court in Legnica has scheduled the next hearing for 17 February 2026. Beniamin W. remains in temporary custody.