Officers in Fredericksburg are searching for the son of God, in statue form.
On Wednesday morning, they tried Facebook.
Around 11 a.m., Fredericksburg police posted a status update, asking, "Who stole Baby Jesus from the Central Park nativity scene?"
In the daily incident report, police list a larceny committed overnight Tuesday on the Carl D. Silver Parkway. A maintenance employee noticed Wednesday morning that a statue of the Christ child was stolen from a Nativity scene, law enforcement said. It was part of a Christmas display in Fredericksburg's Central Park shopping center.
Baby Jesus was stolen from the Christmas display in 2005, police said, but the holy figure was returned unharmed.
The firm that manages the mall, Rappaport Companies, tried to prevent theft by filling the Christ child figurine with 80 pounds of concrete, officials said.
"Apparently, the thieves were determined," said Natalie Bledsoe, of Fredericksburg police.
Authorities are asking for the public's assistance -- or perhaps the help of some other power -- to bring the statue back to its rightful place, the mall.
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