THE curious case of a bishop and a missing crozier has led to an episcopal appeal on Facebook.

The Bishop of Pennsylvania, the Rt Revd Daniel Gutiérrez, was alerted to the missing artefact after his consecration in 2016. The crozier was made by a blacksmith, Samuel Yellin, who moved to Philadelphia from Europe in 1906.

Yellin’s Gothic Revival ironwork appears in Washington National Cathedral, and the banks on Wall Street, New York. Stories of the missing diocesan crozier were confirmed when photos of it were sent to the Bishop’s office, but no one came forward with details of its whereabouts.

The Bishop has now posted the photos on Facebook, appealing for anyone who may know what happened to it to provide information.

He wrote: “I have always been told a diocesan crozier exists. With the able assistance of Davis D’Ambly we found a picture, but not the crozier. It was made by Sanuel Yellin, a well-known blacksmith and metal designer who lived in Philadelphia. It seems that in the distant past it mysteriously disappeared. Please let us know if you have any leads on where it might be stored. We would love to get it back in the diocesan office. Any detectives out there?”

One of those who responded was the craftsman’s granddaughter, Clare Yellin, who could not shed light on its mysterious disappearance, but confirmed that it had been made in 1921.

She said she believed that the crozier, which would weigh 20-30 lbs, was probably lying in a cupboard somewhere. She has offered to donate another piece of her grandfather’s collection to the diocese as a replacement.