Video shows suspects stealing Jesus statue from Brooklyn church

WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Police in Brooklyn are looking for three vandals who were caught on camera stealing a statue of Jesus from in front of a church.

The incident happened Saturday night at St. Peter and Paul Church on 2nd Street in Williamsburg.

Surveillance video shows the suspects walking down the block when one of them grabs the statue before all three run from the scene.

The statue depicts Jesus holding the Sacred Heart, and it's not the first time it's been stolen. A similar incident happened in December of 2012.

"We never thought that it would happen again here in this neighborhood," Sister Bendita Diez said. "It's not only the statue. The statue is a material thing. It's what that statue represents."

A family from New Jersey donated their statue to the church when they found out about that theft, and it was this statue that was stolen over the weekend.

"It is sad because they're running off, laughing," said one woman who works in the rectory. "It's not the monetary value. It's the sentimental value of the statue itself."

Anyone with information is asked to call police. Church officials are hoping the statue will be returned, even anonymously.