SCHUYLKILL HAVEN -- Lori Michael put up a $3,000 manger scene yet again outside her business in Schuylkill Haven after thieves crushed her Christmas spirit just last year.
"A day before we planned to take the whole thing down somebody came and stole the baby,” said Michael.
The sheep had an ear broken off and the baby Jesus was never returned. Lori’s daughter Kristina says the whole ordeal was upsetting.
"I just can’t imagine anybody doing anything like that to anyone’s property not necessarily that it was religious or not," said Kristina Winan.
It cost $500 to replace the stolen property and another $80 to put up a fence – a price Michael was willing to pay to keep the holiday spirit alive.
"I still believe that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, so yes, we put it back up. We bought a new Jesus which came with a second manger and it was quite a bit of money,” said Michael.
Many people passing by the Christmas display in Schuylkill Haven say it’s sad that protecting the nativity scene has come to this.
Lisa Shaup mailed her holiday cards just across the street from the manger and is upset the vandalism happened in the first place.
"I just think this world is coming to a sad state. For someone to desecrate a holy scene, it’s just sad," said Lisa Shaup of Wayne Township.
Pastor Bill Orf says crimes like these seem more and more common and is the very reason he’s glad to see the manger scene along West Main Street.
"People seem to have less heart, and more of a self-focus, but that’s all the more need to show Jesus to the world," said Pastor Bill Orf of the Lighthouse.
The manger will stay up outside Lori’s business until the week after New Year’s.