Around $20,000 worth of cash and cheques were reportedly stolen from a church in Pocantico Hills, New York.
The Church of the Magdalene in the area of Tarrytown became a victim of a 'Christmas thief', who was able to burgle about $2,000 in cash and $18,000 in cheques.
According to a report by NBC New York, the authorities think that the burglar sneaked through the back of the church, opened a back door to the church office, pried open a desk drawer, and stole the donations.
Mount Pleasant police even states that all of this might have happened during an 11a.m. Mass when the church celebrated on Christmas Day.
Rev. Joseph Dietz, who have been the priest of the church for more than 14 years, said that he has not seen nor experienced anything like it in the past.
"It certainly is sad that on Christmas Day, rather than be with family or loved ones, someone would come to our church and steal the donations made by other families," Rev. Dietz said.
He also added that he "would like to talk with the person involved in this".
In the report, the parish priest said that almost one-fifth of the chuch's annual operating budget comes from donations during Christmas Eve masses.