Baby Jesus Theft - Incidents

Incidents

Washington DC journalist Daniel Nasaw of the online presence of Britain's The Guardian notes that dozens of communities across America have suffered thefts of Baby Jesus figurines, and, in some instances, entire nativity scenes. He observes that it is unclear whether such theft is on the rise, as it is not tracked by federal law enforcement.

In 2008, a Baby Jesus was stolen from First United Methodist Church in Kittanning, Pennsylvania and replaced with a pumpkin, and, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a thief not only stole the Baby Jesus from a public display but absconded with the concrete block and chain that was supposed to act as a deterrent. Some communities suffer repeat Baby Jesus thefts. A Baby Jesus was stolen in December 2008 from a Stony Point town display. A town official remarked, "If someone did it as a prank, I don't find it funny." The nativity had been vandalized the year before, and a menorah next to it had been toppled and broken. In 2008 at Divine Savior Church Downers Grove, Illinois a baby Jesus was stolen from a nativity scene by two men in a car. A group of college students were playing roller hockey in the parking lot and chased the thieves on skates. The students obtained the license plate number of the car and called it in to the police who were able to find the car and recover the baby Jesus the same night.

Some figurines have been defaced with profanity or Satanic symbols. In December 2008, for example, a fiberglass Baby Jesus valued at US$375 was stolen from a Eureka Springs, Arkansas park and later recovered, but had been defaced by racial slurs, a swastika, and a Hitler mustache. The eyes were also blacked out and pieces had been broken off, rendering it damaged beyond repair.

In his autobiography, The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell, Marilyn Manson admitted playing a prank in which he and a few friends stole figurines of Jesus then replaced them with hams. They sent a communique to a newspaper posing as a black radical group saying that it was a protest against "the plasticisation of the black man's wisdom with the so-called 'White Christmas'."