A gang of thieves has been arrested after being caught with a ton of crucifixes stolen from graves in Spain.

Six people were detained following reports that cemeteries across Toledo had been targeted. The operation was well organised, with hundreds of statuettes of Christ smashed off gravestones and family tombs to be melted down for scrap metal.

Four were arrested on suspicion of theft and two others were accused of receiving stolen goods.

About 2,000 crosses are believed to have been removed from graves.

Police have so far resolved 19 specific cases of theft, having recovered 90 intact crosses stolen from the El Casar de Escalona cemetery when they raided the gang’s centre of operations on an industrial estate in the Madrid region on Sunday.

In total, officers found a haul of crucifix pieces weighing one ton as well as a solid silver crucifix, documents related to the scrap bronze sales and €17,440 (£14,800) in cash.

The gang used a metal pulverising mill to smash the crucifixes into small pieces after which the material would be sold and transported to another site to be melted down.

Milagros Tolón, the delegate of the government of Spain in the Castilla-La Mancha region, congratulated the police on their “tremendous work in a case that has caused understandable social alarm”.

The men were due to appear in court on Monday.