Jesus statue stolen from church’s nativity display almost 90 years ago returned

A small statue of Jesus that was stolen from a New Jersey church has finally returned home — after nearly 90 years.

Our Lady of Grace Church in Hoboken received a welcome surprise this week when a mysterious package it received from Florida included a stolen nativity piece from the 1930s. Police were called on Wednesday to inspect the box it came in because no return address was provided.

“To whom it may concern,” an enclosed letter began, an ABC affiliate in New York reported Thursday. “My Mom told me that the Baby Jesus had been stolen from the church Nativity display at Our Lady of Grace when she was a young girl of about twelve years of age in the early 1930s. It came into her father’s possession somehow, and I don’t know why he didn’t return it. Instead, he gave it to my mother after she was married, and she too kept it until her passing when it came to me. Knowing the story, I felt it should be returned to the rightful owner, and you will find it enclosed.”

Father Alexander Santora was told by police that the tracking number linked the package to Crystal Springs, Florida.

“When something comes home after all these years, it’s a little Jesus, it’s like a lost child coming home,” Rose Dukic, a parishioner, told the station.