Bethlehem Police said Tuesday that they hope to identify a woman who stole a statue of the baby Jesus from the Nativity scene in Payrow Plaza outside Bethlehem City Hall on Church Street over the weekend.

In a news release, police said the life-size statue was stolen from the landmark Nativity around 2 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4, and later recovered in Bethlehem Township.

“A note that made no sense was left with the statue,” police said.

The woman who stole the statue is described as light-skinned with shoulder-length brown hair and weighing approximately 120 to 140 pounds. Police said she was wearing a knee-length, dark-colored coat with a hood, dark-colored yoga-type pants, dark-colored flat-bottom shoes and a dark baseball cap at the time.

“She was walking a tan or gold-colored medium size dog when she was at the Nativity scene at City Hall,” and was observed driving a dark-colored, two-door car that may have been a Saturn Ion, police said.

Surveillance stills that depict the woman were released along with the news release (see below and right).

Anyone who knows anything about the woman’s identity or the theft is asked to call Bethlehem Detective Chris Beebe or Chief Mark DiLuzio’s office at 610-865-7187.