Thieves Steal Joseph From Nativity Scene

It was not just your average Joe who was ripped off last week. This Joseph was husband of the Virgin Mary.

While Colbert homeowner Cindy Linton watched in horror from her living room, at least two people stole a glowing, four-foot plastic statue of Joseph and tried unsuccessfully to take statues of Baby Jesus and a wise man.

“I can’t believe people would be that low to steal Joseph,” said Linton. “Santa Claus is one thing. But the father (of Jesus)?”

For the third year in a row, Linton and her husband Del spent about $500 to build a lighted nativity scene and string lights around their house on Willard Road in Colbert. Del Linton built the 8-foot by 4-foot manger that held Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Their nativity has not been defaced before.

According to Linton and and her son Shawn, a car drove down their long, bumpy driveway about 9 p.m. Dec. 14.

Unsure who would be visiting, Cindy asked Shawn if he recognized the car. Shawn looked outside to see two people getting into a gray, late-1980s sedan. By the time Shawn ran to the front door, the car and Joseph were gone.

The thieves tried to take the small Jesus statue and a wise man, but could not pull them free of the electrical cords trailing from the statues.

This is the second theft from a nativity scene in the Spokane area this year. Mary and Jesus were stolen last week in the Spokane Valley.

There have been several other North Side holiday decorations defaced, according to police.

Cindy Linton said she was carrying on a family tradition by decorating her yard. Her father was very enthusiastic about yard decorations, winning several contests in Idaho, before he was killed in an accident when Linton was 15.

Linton said she does not plan to replace Joseph. To do so, she would have to buy a new, $150 set of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. She fears the thieves would come back if she did.

“I don’t understand their meaning at all,” said Linton. “It upsets every time I walk by.”

, DataTimes