Christ Child Figure Stolen from Malibu Creche Scene

STOLEN—The hand-carved and painted Christ Child figure from the public Malibu Nativity scene in the Civic Center area was taken from the manger sometime over the weekend. The life-sized wood figure had been bolted in place

• Latest Theft Raises Issue of Enclosing 44-Year Tradition

BY ANNE SOBLE

Keep Christ in Christmas project member Jackie Sutton said she held up under the weekend theft of the Christ Child figure until a little girl asked her, “Why would anyone steal Baby Jesus?” Sutton said she fought back tears.
The theft of the life-sized figure that occurred between Saturday evening and Sunday morning at the creche scene at Pacific Coast Highway and Webb Way constitutes grand theft in light of the value of the hand-carved Italian figures, considered showcase Nativity scene carvings.
KCIC is a non-profit group with private ownership of the creche and figures, which it has been allowed to place on Los Angeles County property at the high visibility intersection.
Sutton doesn’t want to put a price tag on the figure, which she describes as irreplaceable considering its one-of-a-kind nature, but a carved lamb stolen in 2001 was valued at $7000 at the time.
The theft was noticed by members of the Randy Sall family, who have been monitoring the manger scene. The figures are bolted down but the creche does not have the fencing found at many public Nativity scenes.
There are no clues as to who might have taken the work, the fifth major theft of figures in KCIC’s 44 years of putting on programs of holiday caroling and candlelighting.
An unbolted Christ Child figure was the first loss. It was taken the day after Christmas in 1980. At the time, it was valued at $1000. A note described by authorities as “obscene” was left at the scene. The case was never solved.
Funds were raised for a replacement in time for the next Christmas. Next was the first of the two angel thefts on Dec. 30 or or 31 in 1986. The most spectacular of the manger pieces, the four-foot-tall angel was valued at $5000. It was suspended from the rafters by wires. Given the carving’s weightiness, authorities indicated it would have taken at least two people to remove it.
A new five-foot-tall angel was hoisted aloft and secured with heavy chain and padlocks the next year but that one was stolen at Christmas in 1992. Links of cut chain hung in its stead. Again, several people had to have taken part.
After each of the thefts, volunteers rallied to raise funds to replace the figures. These thefts and several episodes of vandalism kept the group in a quasi-perpetual fundraising mode as the figures became costlier to replace or refurbish.
Damage from wind, rain and the salt air, as well as flaking paint, wood rot and breakage also take their toll as pieces age and require work by specialists in the field of carvings restoration.
In only one theft was the figure found. A lamb, valued then at $7000, was stolen on Dec. 21 or 22 in 2001. The lamb had been bolted to the floorboard of the creche, and its feet were broken by whoever forcibly removed it.
That figure was found on Sunday, Dec. 23, resting atop a mailbox not far from the Malibu Cove Colony area. It cost nearly $1000 to repair the broken feet.
Last weekend’s theft is currently under active investigation. Anyone who thinks they may have seen something that could assist in finding the perpetrators is asked to contact the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station at 310-456-6652.
The question of adding increased security to the manger tableau arose with each of the thefts. In many urban areas, creche scenes are fully encased in chain-link or other security fencing to avert the removal or vandalism of carvings, which has increasingly become commonplace.
KCIC members have steadfastly tried to maintain the openness of the Malibu manger scene, but as replacement figures approach five-figure price tags, a few of them acknowledge this stance may have to reconsidered.
According to KCIC lore, the original woodwork for the creche was carved over four decades ago in the tiny Tyrolean village of Ortezay (Urtijei) at the base of the Alps. Italian artist Goffredo Moroder supervised the first carvings. considered to be on a par with work done for major cathedrals.
Each of the figures was carved from a solid block of Larchwood, a pine native to the area. The colorful paints were laboriously hand-rubbed into the specially cured and tooled woodwork.
Sutton said KCIC will undertake another fundraising campaign if the Christ Child figure is not returned. Anyone wishing to make a tax-deductible donation can contact the group at P.O. Box 833, Malibu, CA 90265-0833.