Cops have nabbed the homeless man whom they say swiped a wooden statue (like the one pictured) of the Virgin Mary and her baby from the chapel of St. Vincent’s Services in Boerum Hill on Oct. 19.
The cursed event at the child-care agency was caught on tape at around 4 am, and the thief, who suffers from psychiatric problems, was arrested three days later, police said.
The center is deciding whether to press charges against the man, but its top priority is finding another hand-carved Madonna and child, a meaningful object to the facility since the 1970s when it was commissioned from a tiny woodworker’s village in the Italian Dolomites. (One version is pictured.)
“The children who lived in this building when it was an orphanage helped design it,” explained Mary Louise Morgan, a spokeswoman. “The statue’s physical characteristics reflected their diversity.”
The thief didn’t even end up profiting from his unholy crime, leaving the likeness of the supposedly holy duo in the garbage.
It is believed to be lost for good, though St Vincent’s remains optimistic about restoring its chapel’s centerpiece.
“Hope springs eternal here,” said Morgan.
