Balthazar, or homeless man? A nativity scene performance in England. Getty ImagesCHRISTMAS CRIME: Homeless Man Raids Nativity Scene
HAMBURG, Germany (Der Spiegel), December 17, 2007:
A 53-year-old man with nowhere to sleep on Saturday night decided to warm himself up by stealing the three wise men's garments from a full-size nativity scene standing in the center of Essen, western Germany.
Security guards perplexed at the sight of one of the three wise men sleeping outside a department store in Germany on Sunday morning discovered that he was a homeless man who had borrowed the robes and head dresses from full-size models of Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar standing in a nativity scene near the Christmas market, police said.
"It was a really cold night. I don't think the three kings would have objected," a spokesman for the police in the city of Essen, western Germany, told SPIEGEL ONLINE.
Nevertheless, the 53-year-old man was taken to a police station and released after his true identity had been established.
© 2007 SPIEGELnet GmbH
