GIBBSBORO, N.J. - Police in New Jersey have recovered a rare religious statue and apprehended a suspect accused of stealing it from a local church.
Monsignor Louis Marucci, the pastor of St. Andrew the Apostle in Camden County, said the church's Our Lady of Fatima statue was swiped from the altar by a man around 4 p.m.
last Tuesday.Gibbsboro Police confirmed they arrested 64-year-old Robert Adelman, of Woodbury, Wednesday. Officials said Adelman could be seen on surveillance video sneaking into the church and taking the statue.
About one week after the alleged incident, church officials told FOX 29 police had recovered the statue. For Monsignor Marucci and the parish community, the statue - just one of four in existence - represents a unique and powerful connection to Jesus.Parishioners will be celebrating the return of the statue in a special mass of gratitude at 8 a.m.