Stolen baby Jesus returned to Montana Nativity scene with a note: 'This is God'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Butte, Montana, couple discovered two notes Thursday from someone pretending to be God after a baby Jesus figurine was stolen from their Nativity scene on New Year's Day.
Jack McCormick said he was relieved to see baby Jesus back in the manger in his snow-filled yard on Thursday, The Montana Standard reported.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This is God," a note read. "I took my son back for a trip! I'm returning him now! God Bless!"
The other note asked the family to keep the matter off Facebook.
On Tuesday, after the baby Jesus was stolen, McCormick posted a picture of it on social media that got over 100 shares.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Someone stole the Christ child from our Nativity Scene," he wrote. "It would mean a great deal to us to have it returned."
The nativity set is more than just a family keepsake. Andrea McCormick said her uncle acquired the figurines from the St. Helena Catholic Church when it was relocated in the late 1960s.
And sadly, it wasn't the first time parts of it had gone missing.
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McCormick's uncle loaned the set to the St. Patrick Catholic Church for some time when some of the figurines were stolen and later found in a nearby alley.
The family is thankful that Mary and Joseph are once again looking down on baby Jesus and not an empty manger.
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"Andrea's prayers to St. Anthony might have had a little to do with it, too!" Jack McCormick posted on Facebook Thursday.
The McCormicks said they plan to donate the set to a local museum because it's part of Butte history.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.