The Virgin Mary statue that has been missing from the yard of Our Lady of the Visitation Catholic Church in Darnestown is back there once again.
The two-foot-high statue was taken by young girls, one clad in a Catholic School uniform, according to footage from a surveillance camera.
About two weeks later, some people at the River Road Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda saw the statute but didn’t know where it had come from. After speaking to others, they soon learned it had been taken from the Darnestown church.
It was placed at the Bethesda church at 2:30 a.m. Feb. 26. By Monday, the statue was back home, said Father Greg Shaffer of Our Lady of the Visitation church.
“I’m so glad. It’s a big relief,” said Shaffer, who has grown used to beginning each day by bowing to the statue on his way into the church.
Although he doesn’t know who took the statue, he did say the police “have some leads.”
Shaffer is not interested in punishing the suspects, noting, “We’ve been praying for the whole time that good comes out of this,” he said. He hopes the girls find goodness in their hearts after what he believes was a prank.
