Christmas is saved – a statue of the baby Jesus stolen from an outdoor crib in Waterford has been recovered.

The badly damaged statue was found in a nearby park after an appeal from local parish priest Fr Gerry Langford.

Speaking after the baby Jesus went missing from the Christmas crib outside Waterford Cathedral on Barronstrand Street, the priest appealed for its return.

He told state broadcaster RTE: “The baby Jesus is missing. There’s a big search going on around the city and everybody’s talking about it. Christmas is a time for miracles, so maybe the baby might turn up again.

“People normally have a great amount of respect and goodwill around this year. We don’t really know what happened and why somebody may have done this.

“Somebody may have taken the figure in a moment of madness.”

Police are now checking CCTV footage to see if they can find out who was behind the theft.

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