Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Fort Smith (Jan 23/06) - John Minute can't really believe it. Minute, well known in Fort Smith for spectacular Christmas displays in his garden, had two figurines stolen over the holiday season.

But they weren't just any ordinary decorations. They were two Baby Jesus figurines, taken from two large nativity scenes.

John Minute wants two stolen figurines of baby Jesus to be returned for his nativity scenes, which also include the Three Wise Men. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

"Who would sink so low as to steal baby Jesus from the manger at Christmas?" Minute wonders.

Between 1 and 4:30 p.m. on Boxing Day, someone climbed over Minute's fence and took the Baby Jesus figurine. A similar figurine in a display on his rental property next door was also taken, but he is not sure when.

Minute says he was very hurt and disappointed by the theft.

"It made me feel like disconnecting all the lights, but then they would have won, so I didn't do that," he says.

The missing figurines are about 20 inches long. One is of a baby, while the other is of a baby in a cradle. Both have lights inside and attached electrical cords.

The nativity scenes were constructed with plastic figurines ordered from the U.S. They cannot be ordered separately, so Minute is thinking of replacing them with dolls.

Minute reported the theft to police and, within three days, he placed posters around town asking for the figurines to be returned to his yard - no questions asked.

However, there has been no response and Minute doubts they will be returned, adding he thinks they might be thrown away by now.

"I hope I'm wrong," he says.

Judging by the footprints in the snow of his yard, Minute estimates the thief to be a teenager or young adult.

It is not the first time something has been stolen from Minute's yards, which he also decorates for Halloween, Easter and some other occasions.

A half-dozen years ago, someone took about 800 Christmas lights. Each bulb was unscrewed from its socket.

Last year, someone took six small Halloween pumpkin figurines.

And about seven years ago, a 100-pound cement statue of Dopey - the character from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - was stolen three times from a summertime display. The first two times, Dopey was dropped off within a couple of weeks. However, he was gone three years before being returned on his third disappearance.

Minute began decorating his Calder Avenue yards in 1992. In all, he estimates he has between 900-1,000 Christmas ornaments, more than 350 for Halloween and about 300 for Easter.