Prank or a real crime?

From Yahoo News this morning:

So far in 2008, Baby Jesus has appeared in several police reports.

At First United Methodist Church in Kittanning, Pa., a baby Jesus was stolen and replaced with a pumpkin. In Eureka Springs, Ark., someone who absconded with a plastic baby Jesus from a public display last week also took the concrete block and chain that was supposed to act as a deterrent.

Previously, stolen Jesus figurines have also been defaced with profanity or Satanic symbols.
The incidents raise a question: Is stealing Baby Jesus harmless juvenile fun, or anti-Christian?
"I suspect most of it is childish pranks," said attorney Mike Johnson of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal group. "Clearly, there are adults with an agenda to remove Christ from Christmas. But they tend to occupy themselves with the courts and courtroom of public opinion."

Stephen Nissenbaum, a retired history professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of "The Battle for Christmas," views the thefts as neither innocent vandalism nor religious hate crimes.

"What it means is that it's OK to go around violating even pretty important norms, as long as real human harm isn't being done," he said. "It could be Christian kids doing it — and on Jan. 2 they become good Christians again."
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This is part of an article about how churches are using GPS devices implanted in their baby Jesus figurines, and other parts of large outdoor nativities, in order to track down the criminals/pranksters who take them year after year. Here's an idea--just chain all the figurines together. And/or permanently fix Baby Jesus into his manger in some way. Ideas for that include Super Glue, 4" galvanized deck screws, lag bolts.

Or just attach an anvil to each figurine; you can order them from ACME. That's what Wile E. Coyote, Genius, would do.