Baby Jesus Icon Stolen, Replaced by Pig Head

Dec 27, 2014 03:00 AM EST

(Photo : Reuters) The head of a pig with a chilli in its mouth rests on a food stand outside Nueva Esperanza cemetery during the Day of the Dead celebrations in Villa Maria, Lima November 1, 2011. Each year people visit the cemetery, one of Latin America's largest, to honour the dead. REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil (PERU - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION)

There had been more than one incident of baby Jesus dolls filched from Nativity displays in Crechen this Christmas in Massachusetts.

However, in an indicator of the apparent depraved mind of the image thief, in Haverhill, the person who took the icon of baby Jesus from the Sacred Hearts Parish Church did not only ripped it off but even replaced the revered display with a pig's head.

Like Us on Facebook

The incident happened on Friday morning, reports MyFixBoson.com, and the only thing left was a plastic bag with the pig head.

Haverhill Police Department spokesman Lieutenant Robert Pistone said it was not the usual kind of pig sold at local butchers' shops but was freshly decapitated one. To discover more information about the porcine head, police have started to seek help from local farms and butcher shops.

Pastor John Delaney, who operates Sacred Heart commented, "It's just a hurtful commentary on society ... And for someone to do this sad deed is really shocking."

Using pig's head to replace the stolen baby Jesus appears to be not that new in Haverhill, because that offense has been done a few years ago.

Delaney added that church members are upset by the act and its sensitive timing during the Yuletide holiday season, stressing "They're heartbroken, they're horrified, they're outraged by this act that really speaks to us on this solemn day of hurt."

However, not all hope is lost because some brought a replacement child Jesus for the crèche, which Delaney said is a great sign of goodness, friendship and hope.

The other one stolen was an imported infant Jesus statue from the Greenfield Town Common's Nativity scene, worth $3,000, on Christmas Eve.

Some residents have dismissed the filched statues as a prank, but Derrick Brenner of East Longmeadow told 22 News that to do such prank at this time of the year is doubly wrong.

Similar incidents have happened in the past. For a Nativity scene in Palmer, a baby Jesus statue was stolen in 2009, while in 2010, it was the entire anger that was taken from the Easthampton Congregational Church.