Cleveland, January 20, 2026
A number of such prayer plates were stolen from the church. Photo: WKYC Channel 3
Members of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood are asking for the public’s help to identify a suspect who broke into their historic church and stole irreplaceable prayer plates.
Steven Boukis, a third-generation member of the church, explained to Fox 8 that one of the great traditions at Annunciation is the offering of “prayer plates” for special intentions.
“Someone may have an ill relative or someone that’s going through a hard time. For example, the prayer plate may be of an eye if someone is having an eyesight problem, or a heart if someone is having heart issues and then prayers are made and those people obviously pray for the best, as does the entire congregation on Sundays,” Boukis said.
Many of the prayer plates are minted in the Holy Land or Greece and are made of gold, silver, brass or copper. They’re displayed beneath the parish’s icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Photo: annunciationcleveland.net
Earlier this month, members of the congregation discovered that an intruder had broken into the church by smashing out a basement window. Surveillance video showed the suspect breaking through a door in the vestibule and heading straight for the altar, where he took the prayer plates before fleeing out the front door of the parish office.
“I believe if that person had any faith in God or any faith in any religion, he would not have touched those. They’re sacrosanct to the church, they’re sacrosanct to those families. You do not touch items of that nature and believe that down the road, you will not receive some sort of punishment,” Boukis said.
Parish leaders turned over the surveillance video to Cleveland police, noting the offender’s apparent knowledge of the church’s layout.
Parishioners are offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect and the return of the prayer plates.
“The point is those relatives and their heirs would like those plates to be returned to their rightful place,” Boukis said.
Anyone with information about the suspect or the missing prayer plates is asked to call Cleveland Police Second District detectives at 216-623-5218 or Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church at 216-861-0116.
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