Vandals Replace Baby Jesus in Mass. Church's Nativity Display with Pig's Head; Police Investigate Possible Hate Crime
A vandal or vandals replaced a baby Jesus statue in a Nativity scene display in front of a Haverhill, Massachusetts, church with a bloody pig's head early Christmas morning, and police in the area are investigating the heinous act as a possible hate crime.
Haverhill police released this picture of pig head placed in church's nativity on Christmas. Reaction at noon. #wbzpic.twitter.com/IHzaXos6nU
— Chris McKinnon (@chrisWBZ) December 26, 2014
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Local news reports state that the statue was stolen from the Sacred Hearts Church in Haverhill. A woman in the neighborhood replaced the stature with one from her own display, making the Nativity display complete again.
"I can't change the world, but I can change my city," Brenda Burns, who donated the replacement baby Jesus statue, told CBS Boston. "I'm bringing this, and I'm asking everybody to do the same. Make a statement. You don't have to come here and hold a sign to be destructive. Just come to let everybody who drives by know. Not here. Not my city."
At a press conference on Friday, police said the pig used was "freshly decapitated" and not the kind "usually sold at a butcher shop" because "hair" was found on it. Parishioners at Sacred Hearts expressed disbelief that such an incident occurred.
"I'm thoroughly appalled. I feel terrible about that. It's very, very sad. I can't believe anybody would do that," one parishioner told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
"I can't understand why someone would do such a thing. All we can do is pray for them," another parishioner talking about the vandals told CBS.
Although statistics are hard to find, the defacing of Nativity scenes, including the theft of baby Jesus figurines, are crimes that appear to be on the rise in recent years. The Washington Post, reporting on the Haverhill incident, states that this type of action is "the ultimate crime against Christmas: stealing baby Jesus from his manger. And this sort of thing happens more often than you may think."
The Post also reported that a "$3,000 Italian baby Jesus doll" was stolen in in Greenfield from the creche on the town common. Also, a nativity scene outside of the Washington state capitol has been the target of repeated thefts, including "the baby Jesus from the simple nativity scene erected by Ron Wesselius, the News Tribune reported." It is the third time the baby Jesus was stolen, according to Wesselius.
In another incident this year, the baby Jesus in front of Trinity Baptist Church in Asheville, N.C. has been missing for more than a week, WSOC reported.
"We know this time of year, Christmas season, that sometimes things like this happen. But, we just want baby Jesus back if that's possible," senior associate pastor Allen Rash told WLOS, as reported by the Post.
Police in Haverhill are asking for the public's help in finding the person or persons involved in the crime.
