Someone in Hamilton stole a statue of the Virgin Mary

Hamilton police are trying to figure out who stole a statue of the Virgin Mary from a local Catholic school on the Mountain sometime this week.

Police say the statue was taken from Annunciation of our Lord Catholic Elementary School onLimeridge Rd. West, near West 5th Street, sometime between Aug. 21 and Aug. 22.

Investigators say they were called about the theft on Wednesday. According to a police news release, sometime before 10 a.m. that day, the statue was taken from a garden area near the school.

It was surrounded by a fence that stands just over a metre tall and has a locked gate, police say.

"They must have hopped the fence and taken it," Const. Jerome Stewart said. "Hopefully somebody has seen it in a place it shouldn't be."

Police saythe statue is about a metre talland weighs about sevenkilograms.It's valued at $400.

Anyone with information about the theft is being asked to call police at 905-546-2991.

adam.carter@cbc.ca