Immunity offered — if Virgin Mary statue thief ‘repents’

A college student union has offered a safe haven for the sinner who stole a statue of the Virgin Mary if they want to repent and make right their wrongs.

Residents of Horgan’s Buildings near University College Cork awoke on Tuesday morning to find that the statue of the Virgin Mary that had formed the centrepiece of their neighbourhood grotto had disappeared — and with Fresher’s Week now in full swing, a light-fingered student is being blamed for the theft.

UCC’s Students’ Union has since intervened, and has called on whoever is responsible to anonymously drop off the statue to its office, no questions asked.