The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Damage to Tralee town centre crib for third time in two years
THE statue of the infant Jesus snatched from the crib in Tralee Town Square in the early hours of Sunday has been recovered.
There was considerable upset in the town on Sunday morning - Christmas Eve - when it was discovered that, for the third time in two years, vandals had tried to wreck the nativity scene in the Town Square.
The crib was attacked and damaged twice last year.
On the first occasion the statue of Joseph was beheaded and smashed, a man later admitted carrying out that particular attack.
Just over a fortnight ago Mayor of Tralee Cllr Norma Foley had arranged specially for the repaired crib - and several newly replaced statues in it, including a new Joseph figurine - to be blessed.
This year it’s thought the damage was caused by a group of three or four drunken youths, aged in their late teens or early 20s, who had been seen loitering around the crib on Saturday night.
The weekend vandals smashed and ripped the perspex screen guarding the Nativity scene and made off with the figurine of the infant Jesus.
The incident happened sometime between 11.30pm on Saturday and 7am on Sunday morning.
Gardaí have since recovered the statue, which, it is understood, was found nearby and handed in at Tralee Garda station.
The gardaí have carried out a technical examination of the crib and the recovered statue. They are also looking at CCTV footage from businesses in the area in a bid to nab the vandals.
Any witnesses, or anyone who can identify the vandals, is asked to contact Tralee Garda Station at 066-7102300.
Tralee town centre was extremely busy on Saturday night with many bars reporting one of their busiest nights in many years.
Unfortunately, while most people were generally well behaved, there were significant levels of anti-social and drunk and disorderly behavior.
Several taxi drivers also reported witnessing serious public order problems in and around the town centre late on Saturday and well into the early hours of Christmas Eve.