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SALT LAKE CITY -- Parish members of a Catholic church in Salt Lake City are overjoyed as a priceless statue makes its way back home.
The statue of St. Ambrose was stolen from a Salt Lake City church on Saturday, devastating churchgoers who feared the thief would melt the statue down to sell it for scrap metal.
Then a tip came in to the church, and the statue was found Monday night in a garage in Midvale.
Police arrested one person for the theft and returned the statue to St. Ambrose Catholic Church, located at 1975 S. 2300 East.
Parish members couldn't be happier that their beloved statue is now back in the hands of the church where it belongs.
Didrian Euam said, "Oh, I see it last night, I'm crying last night, I start to cry now. It's a great feeling."
"We're really happy," said Tammie Cleverly. "It's kind of funny that you take it for granted. Every day you drive by it and see it all the time, and then it's not there and it's a big loss."
The 8-foot tall, 800-pound statue was returned to St. Ambrose Monday night after a tip was called in to the church earlier in the day about its location.
Police were then led to a house in Midvale and found the statue in the garage. They arrested 31-year-old Chris Steven Hayward for a second-degree felony possession of stolen property and booked him into the Salt Lake County Jail.
At Mass Tuesday morning, many parishioners got to see the statue for the first time since its return. Church leaders say many members have a personal connection with the statue and were relieved to have it back.
Pastor Andrzej Skrzypiec of St. Ambrose Parish said, "They naturally were very happy, and some people say a lot of prayers went to recovery, towards the recovery of this statue."
"Everybody is happy, I'm very happy. I'm very happy because it's part of myself," said Euam.
Skrzypiec hopes to have the statue back in place soon, once the graffiti is cleaned off and the nose is touched up. He says the bolts will need to be replaced because they were damaged when it was stolen.
He also says he plans to install a security camera that will point directly at the statue, just in case.
E-mail: spark@ksl.com
