MANCHESTER, N.H. — The owners of a nativity scene have a message for whoever stole Mary from their yard last week.

A handwritten, cardboard sign next to the nativity scene in Manchester, New Hampshire, reads: “Please help! Mary Missing, Joseph Doesn’t Want to be a Single Dad!”

Shirl Kula says she and her husband have put up the set almost every Christmas in the 16 years they’ve lived in their home, and they consider it a gift to the neighborhood. She says they’ve never tied down the figures, adding, “it belongs to the neighborhood.”

Kula says she’s not looking to punish whoever took Mary; she simply wants her back.

Jesus isn’t in his cradle, but he hasn’t been stolen. Kula and her husband wait until midnight each Christmas to put him out.