To the editor:

This is an open letter to those in the community who think it is all right to just take something that does not belong to them.

Last Tuesday my neighbors, Dawn and Steve Rottinghaus, worked diligently on decorating their front yard with Christmas ornaments. This display included a large nativity scene given to them by Dawn’s parents the year their younger daughter was born. The display includes eight large figurines and was enjoyed by everyone in the neighborhood and all those that drove by.

Apparently someone thought it would look better elsewhere, because the night it was put up, someone stole it from the manger. The thieves even tried to take the large star on top of the manger, but were unsuccessful because it had been bolted to the wood. Dawn and Steve were upset to discover this theft the next morning. Their children, especially their older daughter, were very afraid that the thieves would come back and try to take her and her sister. Their daughter even asked, “Mom, do they not believe in baby Jesus?”

I am sure this theft was probably part of a prank or stunt and can only hope that the statues have not been destroyed. I only ask that the figures please be returned to the manger, no questions asked. Please renew a little girl’s Christmas spirit and make her believe that you believe in Baby Jesus, and what the manger scene stands for.

M. Farney,

Lawrence