On the surface, the idea that somebody would steal 200 frozen turkey pot pies is a funny one.

That they would pilfer the pies from a church – St. James Anglican Church in Ingersoll, to be specific -- isn’t nearly as funny.

And beyond obvious questions like ‘What would somebody do with all those pies?’ there are a few unanswered queries which turn the theft from a little bit whimsical to downright weird.

For one, why didn’t they take all the pies? The church volunteer who discovered the theft last Sunday reported that about two dozen of the frozen pies had been left on the floor, where they had defrosted. The freezer door was left open, too.

Here’s another question: How did the thief or thieves get into the church’s kitchen in the first place?

The kitchen door is kept locked, and was still locked when the theft was discovered. Carol Turner, who chairs the church’s women’s group, points to a ventilation hole as a possible entry point.

“The suspicion is that whoever has perpetrated this crime came in through (an exterior) door and used the handrail to shimmy up to the opening,” she said in an interview.

For that to be true, Turner says, the bandit would have to be “far more agile” than the women – most of them older – who put hours and hours of work into making the pies. So if nothing else, that would suggest that the theft wasn’t an inside job.

Besides, the pies were being sold as a fundraiser. Proceeds weren’t going to the church, but to various community groups and programs the women’s group supports.

Turkey pot pie

Turner, who bought a few of the pies for herself, says they all contained turkey and one vegetable – either peas or corn.

“They were very good,” she said.

“I’m very sorry that everyone else is going to miss out on that.”

Oxford County OPP say the theft could have occurred anytime between May 15 and May 21.

They want to hear from anyone who has information that could help their investigators.

“Somebody has to know something,” Const. Stacey Culbert told CTV News.

Culbert said police have already received multiple tips about the crime, and hope they will prove fruitful – particularly because the victim in this case is a church group which was fundraising for groups who look to help people in Ingersoll.

“They’re going to be out a thousand dollars no matter which way we look at it,” she said.

That sentiment was shared by people approached by CTV News Friday afternoon on the streets of Ingersoll.

“What are they thinking?” asked Barb Dibble.

“Why would you even go into a church and steal things?”

With reporting by Abigail Bimman