Statue of baby Jesus stolen from Shrine of St. John Neumann, where stained glass windows were shattered last year

A statue of an infant Jesus was stolen from a Nativity scene at the National Shrine of St. John Neumann, where nearly a year ago a vandal shattered the shrine’s stained glass windows.

On the night of Jan. 6, staff at the shrine in Northern Liberties discovered that the plaster figurine was missing, the Rev. John Kingsbury, the shrine director, said Tuesday.

The piece was not expensive, Kingsbury said, but it had been in place for at least a decade and had sentimental value.

The shrine, on the lower level of St. Peter the Apostle Church at Fifth Street and Girard Avenue, houses Neumann’s remains, along with artifacts including his Bibles, vestments, and eyeglasses, and is open to the public daily.

Security footage showed many people visiting the area near the Nativity scene on the day the statue was stolen, making it hard to pinpoint the thief, Kingsbury said. But the footage captured images of a man carrying a bag big enough to stow the statue, he said, and shrine staff sent the images to police. The man is considered a person of interest in the theft, he said.

Police confirmed that they were investigating the theft, which they said took place around 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 6. A staff member at the shrine, they said, told police a bald man wearing a blue-and-red flannel shirt, blue jeans, and gray shoes took the statue and put it inside a blue bag before leaving.

Kingsbury, who has served as the shrine’s director for a year, said he was troubled by the theft, but it has not deterred him from opening the doors to the public.

“I see that shrines by their nature are meant to attract a variety of people, and may attract people that are troubled,” he said. “It comes with the turf if we’re going to value and welcome people, especially on the fringes of society.”

The loss of the statue of Jesus comes less than a year after a vandal shattered at least three stained glass windows at the shrine that Kingsbury said cost about $40,000 to replace.

The theft of the statue was announced a week after a thief broke into St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Center City and stole a 125-year-old golden crown from atop a statue of the Virgin Mary. Police have released images of the suspect in that case but have made no arrests.

Kingsbury said he hoped the thief who took the figurine from the shrine would simply return it.

“Just leave it in the shrine anywhere,” he said. “We’ll take care of it.”