Brass bell taken from school

When students and staff return to Saint George’s School on Monday after spring break, a campus fixture will be noticeably absent – unless the people who stole the 250-pound brass bell over the weekend return it.

The bell, nearly a century old, once hung from a steam locomotive, said John Carter, a spokesman for the school.

The Great Northern Railroad gave it to Louis Davenport in recognition of his role as a charter director of the company.

In turn, the Davenport family gave it to the school – where Davenport’s former summer home stands – in 1987.

The theft is probably not a student prank, Carter said. The person or people responsible had the tools to disable the front gate and unscrew bolts that attached the bell to a boulder.

Construction at the school’s athletic center has brought many strangers to the campus, Carter said, so plenty of people could have seen the bell. Police say they have no leads.

The bell had been polished for the school’s 50th anniversary celebrations this year.

“This is a piece of the school’s history that also ties into Spokane’s history,” Carter said.

“At this point, we’d just like to get it back. I don’t know if you can replace it.”