Baby Jesus Thief: 'I Made a Dumb Mistake'

A baby Jesus figurine snatched from a Nativity scene in Colorado has been returned in time for Christmas, with an apology. The AP reports the statuette of Jesus lying in a manger, stolen from a public display in downtown Fort Collins early Sunday, was dropped off anonymously at a fire station on Thursday. It was accompanied by a handwritten note saying: "I'm really sorry. I made a dumb mistake in the moment. It won't happen again."

The figurine was returned two days after police in the college town about 65 miles north of Denver posted surveillance video of the suspected Grinch on social media. The person appeared to be a teen or young adult. There's no other information about who stole the figurine, police said Friday. KDVR, however, reports the suspect was seen with three other people at the time of the theft around 2:20am local time.

The fire station has a motion-sensing door camera, but it wasn't activated when the statue was returned. The business that takes care of the Nativity scene doesn't want to pursue charges.

(More Jesus stories.)