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ALLIANCE, Ohio – An Alliance teen admitted to police that she helped steal a 200-pound metal statue of Jesus Christ.

According to Alliance police, the statue was taken from the St. Theodore Catholic Church on South Linden Avenue in Alliance sometime between Nov. 24 and Dec. 18.

Police said the thieves broke into the church and stole the statue, but left a similar statue of the Virgin Mary. The police department said the suspects also got away with an ivory rosary, a gold-plated brass tabernacle, two crystal cruets, a cassette player and a gold-plated chalice.

Officers checked with area scrap yards in an attempt to find the missing statue. On Wednesday, Alliance officers tracked down the Jesus statue and were able to recover it, thanks to tips on Facebook. Officers said the statue suffered some damage, but was mostly intact. A few of the other items were also found.

The Alliance Police Department said they questioned 18-year-old Mary Watkins, who admitted breaking into the church with a few others. She said the Jesus statue “was just chilling” in the backyard of a vacant house. Watkins was charged with breaking and entering and receiving stolen property.

Charges against the two other teens will be filed on Thursday. Police said that all three of the suspects were cooperative and appeared to be genuinely remorseful for the crime.

Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/oh_stark/alliance-police-say-woman-named-mary-admitted-to-stealing-jesus-statue#ixzz1hD6bUSgY

Article Courtesy of WEWS NewsChannel 5