"I can't say it enough. Christmas is because Jesus was born," said Kevin George, of the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic fraternal group that put the scene together." "He is our Lord and savior, so when they took that, I mean, if they had taken a sheep or something, it's not as important as when they take the baby."
"Somebody had mentioned that the lights had been out on the manger scene one of the nights of the week and then came to notice that the baby was taken out," George said.
The church has put the nativity scene on the same spot every year for more than 20 years. Church members said constructing the manger scene is a lot of work, but it is a labor of love.
"We don't hold any grudges against anybody. We always try to forgive and whoever has it, if they brought it back, we wouldn't question them about it. They did the right thing," George said. "We hope it's still in one piece and that they may be using it for their own manger scene. We don't know."
Church members are planning to buy another figure, which will likely cost hundreds of dollars. They said they do not know if it will arrive in time for Christmas.
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