One of the major themes of investing nowadays is the rally in commodity prices. It's not just oil and gold that are rising, prices for nearly every good have increased.

Most consumers feel the effects every time they go to the pump, but there are other effects as well. The New York Times reports that thieves stole part of the lead roof from an 800-year-old British church.

For centuries, people have stolen religious artifacts in Europe, including chunks of religious buildings, but Britain is in the midst of an accelerating crime wave that some experts call the most concerted assault on churches since the Reformation.

Instead of doctrinal differences, the motivation is the near record price that lead -- the stuff many old church roofs are made of -- is fetching on commodity markets.

"The local parish church has become a victim of international demand for metals," said Chris Pitt, a spokesman for Ecclesiastical, a company that specializes in insuring religious buildings and other heritage sites in Britain.