Senior citizens busted for stealing religious icons from churches

'As soon as I put a cross out on the altar of confession, it would disappear.'

Police have identified an 80-year-old man and 60-year-old woman as thieves after discovering over 3,000 stolen items in their home.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to Christian Headlines, the elderly thieves were discovered in France, with over 3,000 religious items strewn about their home.

The thieves were discovered by Father Ludovic Serre, who noticed a pattern at his church.

"As soon as I put a cross out on the altar of confession, it would disappear," Father Serre shared, adding that even the crib from the nativity display had been pilfered.

Serre noticed the church lost items "every four or five weeks, on Sundays between 4-4:30. I told the police that, according to my calculations, they should return on February 21. 

"And they did! Although half an hour early."

The police did nothing at the church, but traveled to the elderly thieves' home, where they apprehended the suspects.

Police discovered the items, which ranged from cheap candles to ancient Russian icons, scattered everywhere, even in the bathroom.

"[T]he toilets were absolutely full of crucifixes, there wasn't so much as a square centimetre of space," Serre shared.

Since the identities of the thieves, Serre's church has installed surveillance cameras in an effort to thwart future illegal activities.

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