Prankster suspected in S.F. nativity burglary

Bay City News Service
Life-size statues of two sheep and a lamb have disappeared from a San Francisco church's nativity scene and one church worker hopes to get them back.

One of the statues went missing two weeks ago and the other two disappeared just recently, said Jan Lundquist, secretary of the West Portal Lutheran Church at 200 Sloat Blvd.

Lundquist said she is baffled by anyone who would want to take the statues.

``We've had the set for so long, eight or 10 years, I guess, that I don't really know what their value is anymore,'' said Lundquist, who added that the lamb was stolen a year ago and recovered unscathed from nearby Stern Grove.

The animals were not secured outside the manger, but the rest of the nativity scene remains.

``Mary, Joseph and some angels and baby Jesus of course, but they're all bolted and tied down,'' Lundquist said.

Police took a report earlier today and are asking that whoever pilfered the artificial creatures to return them to the church.

Borrowed from the SJ Merc.