'Baby Jesus is missing': Statue removed from Tallahassee park's nativity scene

CD Davidson-Hiers | Tallahassee Democrat

Lynne Takacs and her family were on a late Monday night stroll through the festive lights and holiday decorations at Dorothy B. Oven Park on Thomasville Road.

That's when Takacs' 8-year-old son Nate noticed something was wrong.

He had scampered a few steps up the path from his parents and stood at the Nativity scene, staring down at the manger.

"Baby Jesus is missing," he said.





Sure enough, when Takacs, her other son and her husband — Jeff Takacs, clerk of the Florida House of Representatives — stepped up to the manger, there was no baby. Mary and Joseph were still crowded around the cradle, however.

"I saw the Three Kings bowing down," Nate told the Democrat Tuesday. "And Mary was praising to God and there was an angel, and the animals."

But no baby Jesus.

The family snapped a couple of photos. As they left the scene, they passed by other families going toward the Nativity and told them Jesus was gone.

Takacs shared her husband's photos with the city of Tallahassee on Twitter, thinking that was a good way to report the possible crime.

"I don't even know how to report this kind of thing," she said. "I suppose you could say 'He is risen,' but it's a little too far from Easter for that."

Park employees confirmed Tuesday morning that the Baby Jesus statue was missing from the manger, but said a groundskeeper could have removed the babe.

The park has yet to confirm whether Baby Jesus has been stolen or just removed.

"People would stick cigarettes in his mouth," one employee said.

Later Tuesday, Director of Parks and Recreation Ashley Edwards said the missing babe had been replaced. She said she did not know what the original statue was made of, but that it was not expensive.

The department keeps multiple baby Jesuses for Nativity displays in the parks. The city is still trying to discern what happened to the first baby Jesus figure, Edwards said, and there are no outdoor cameras near the Nativity.

The Nativity scene and festive lights will remain at the park through Wednesday night. Edwards said the Jesus statue was not put away by park staff, and added that "from time to time, we do have little things happen" in the parks.

Contact CD Davidson-Hiers at CDavidsonH@Tallahassee.com, or follow her on Twitter @DavidsonHiers for news about education in Leon County and Florida.