A mayor in Massachusetts is outraged that someone stole a statue of the baby Jesus from a church’s nativity scene and replaced it with a pig’s head.

Haverhill mayor James Fiorentini said the desecration had “all the elements of a hate crime”.

The parish priest noticed the statue had been taken from the creche at Sacred Hearts Roman Catholic Church on Christmas morning.

Police said the pig’s head left in its place appeared to have been recently severed, and investigators were seeking help from butcher shops and pig farms. Police say the perpetrator could face animal cruelty charges.

A neighbour replaced the baby Jesus with one from her own creche.

A baby Jesus figurine was also stolen from the nativity scene on Greenfield Town Common, likely before dawn on Christmas Eve.