Yvette Gaudet isn't angry with the manger poacher who stole baby Jesus from her front yard. Instead, she's turning the other cheek.

"I couldn't believe it. I said, oh, well I guess somebody needed him more than I did," she said, adding she believes the culprits will eventually return the missing Lord.

The Gaudets live in the southeast Saskatoon neighbourhood of Briarwood. The display, featuring Mary, Joseph and Jesus has graced their yard for the past decade.

Until this weekend.

Jesus goes missing from Briarwood nativity scene 0:57

"On Saturday morning two of my granddaughters looked outside and said -- Oh!, baby Jesus is gone," she said.

Now, the centrepiece is a cardboard box between Mary and Joseph, with the inscription "Please return baby Jesus."

In the meantime, all is not lost. Gaudet has a back-up Jesus.

Yvette Gaudet is prepping her back-up Jesus for the nativity scene. (Dan Zakreski/CBC)

That stand-in is a child's doll, wrapped in a blanket. Gaudet says the understudy Jesus is not quite ready for the limelight, though. Gaudet is knitting him an outfit, first.