When the baby Jesus disappeared from his nativity scene, Henry Schmidt of suburban Downers Grove, Ill. bought a replacement and didn't think much of it.
But when the second Jesus was swiped, he decided something more suspicious was afoot.
"It looks like for whatever reason there are people out there that do not have proper respect for Jesus," Schmidt said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "There was a time and a place where you just didn't mess with Jesus."
Schmidt, the owner of high-end machining company Moldtronics, was reportedly undeterred. "I'm going to put another (baby Jesus) up," he told the Downers Grove edition of TribLocal. "I'm not giving up, I'm not afraid."
He described the perpetrators as people who have a "grudge against Jesus."
TribLocal also reports the reaction of a baffled local police force:
"At this point we have no suspects, no nothing," said Sgt. Dave Bormann of the Downers Grove Police Department "We don't know if it is a prank, or kids walking by taking him."
Joseph, Mary, the three Wise Men and all of the other figures in the manger scene were left alone and remain unharmed.
Oddly enough, this isn't the area's first baby Jesus theft, a phenomenon apparently so common that it's earned its own, controversial Wikipedia page. Last year, according to a police report, "An infant Jesus figurine was reported taken from a Nativity scene during the overnight hours Dec. 27" in neighboring Westmont. No word from authorities on whether they suspect a serial thief or a copycat Jesus-burglar.