The person who stole a baby Jesus figurine from a Nativity scene in Texas A&M's All Faiths Chapel was probably playing a prank.

The thief left behind a cartoon dialogue bubble attached to Joseph that said, "He is risen." Mary, standing on the other side of the now empty cradle, had her own bubble that said, "Oh, God."

But John Ellison, who owns the Nativity set, isn't laughing. And the theft has put a significant damper on his Christmas joy.

The 1982 A&M graduate doesn't work on campus but said he has a strong spiritual connection to its chapel. He prays there almost every day and was shocked earlier this month to find his Jesus figurine stolen.

Ellison has placed the set in the foyer of A&M's chapel for the last few years to "glorify God and to bring attention to the fact that we are celebrating the birth of Christ," he said. He paid between $200 and $300 for the tabletop set.

"You take Jesus away from a Nativity scene and you render it mute," he said. "In essence, they stole the whole kit and kaboodle."

Money, he said, is not the issue, though.

"The offense is more on a spiritual level," he said.

Ellison said he doesn't know the exact day he discovered the figurine was missing, only that it was early this month. He didn't call the police, he said, but did tell a security guard on the site. The theft has continued to grate at him, leading him to call The Eagle this week.

"I walked by it this morning and I was offended once again that someone would walk into a church and steal the figure of Jesus," he said on Tuesday.