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Statue Returned To Greenwich Village Church After Theft Is Caught On Camera

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- In what has been called a Thanksgiving miracle, a statue has been returned to a Greenwich Village church weeks after it was stolen.

On Wednesday, CBS2 obtained surveillance video of a man stealing a statue of a young girl outside the Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua, at 155 Sullivan St.

The statue was stolen on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The video showed the man's face clearly.

On Thanksgiving Day, the statue reappeared outside the church and was back in place at the Our Lady of Fátima Shrine.

"Suddenly the statue was back -- miracle of miracles; Thanksgiving, so we're very grateful for that," said the Rev. Joseph Lorenzo, pastor of the church. "And we're grateful for, I'm sure they saw it on Channel 2 News or someone told the guy, because it's a pretty clear picture -- and probably got a little nervous."

The statue depicts a young girl named Jacinta Marto, one of the children who reported seeing the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal in 1917.

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