“It’s really sad because the turkeys were for the community,” said the Rev. Casey Collins from Calvary United Methodist Church on Sabattus Street in Lewiston after four turkeys thawing in the refrigerator behind her were found to be missing. The turkeys were slated to be cooked today for a community supper at the church open and free to all. Now, spaghetti is on the menu.

LEWISTON — Volunteers at Calvary United Methodist Church on Sabattus Street had been preparing for the retirement celebration for weeks — making sure they had enough turkeys in the freezer and all the trimmings ready to go.

On Saturday, they pulled four plump, 14-pound birds from the locked freezer and moved them to the refrigerator to thaw for the main course for Wednesday evening’s meal.

On Tuesday morning, they discovered the unthinkable.

“Some turkey stole the turkeys,” said the Rev. Casey Collins. “It’s really sad more than anything else. I mean, to take food when it was intended to feed so many who need it and would appreciate it. It’s just sad. Sad and disappointing that a person or people would do that.”

Someone stole four turkeys from the church that were set aside for a meal celebrating the retirement of longtime chef Roger Lebrecque, who has cooked for the thousands of the city’s poorest residents over the past nine years. He is retiring as head of the church’s mission kitchen, which serves breakfast every Sunday morning and dinner each Wednesday. Combined, the two meals feed about 100 people per week, according to Collins.

“I’d just like to ask why,” Collins said. “Why would a personal need be more important than the need of 75 or 80 or 90 people — however many people that meal might have fed this week?”

The theft was reported Tuesday morning at about 11:30 a.m. to the Lewiston Police Department. As of Tuesday night, Sgt. Brian O’Malley said that the incident remains under investigation.

“We’re not a rich church. We’re there for the mission really,” said Dianne Nelder, chair of the city mission at Calvary United Methodist. “We’re just sad that someone’s personal gain took away from so many who are so needful.”

Nelder said that more than 30 volunteers help prepare and serve the two weekly meals at the church. The turkeys came from Good Shepard Food-Bank around Christmas and were being saved for Wednesday’s special occasion. She said volunteers moved the turkeys from freezer to fridge Saturday, and noticed them missing for the first time Tuesday morning.

Since the church was closed and locked Monday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Nelder and Collins both fear that someone stole the birds during the church’s Sunday services. The women said Sunday would have been the last time that anyone was in the church.

Given the mysteriously missing main course, Nelder said that volunteers changed the celebration from a turkey dinner to a spaghetti dinner.

“We’ll be fine (Wednesday) night,” said Nelder, who remained optimistic about the situation. “People will still be fed and they’ll be fed well.”