PRAGUE – Czech police said on May 15 they had found the skull of a 13th century saint, days after it was stolen from a church in the north of the country.
Police said they had arrested a suspect, who had admitted to taking the skull of St Zdislava of Lemberk from a glass shrine in the basilica of St Lawrence and St Zdislava in the town of Jablonne v Podjestedi on May 12.
The 35-year-old man had objected to it being displayed, police said, and had intended to cover it in concrete and dispose of it in a river.
“We know he wanted to sink it in the river today to bid farewell in this way,” local police chief Petr Rajt told reporters.
“If we had failed to detain the man yesterday, the skull would probably never be found.”
The man had already covered the skull in concrete, police said, leaving experts facing an uphill task to restore it.
St Zdislava of Lemberk, who was born around 1220 and died some 30 years later, was a noblewoman known for her charitable deeds and was canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1995.
The man was detained in the city of Mlada Boleslav north-east of Prague on May 14, “following meticulous police work and a bit of police luck”, Mr Rajt said.
The thief stole the skull just before Mass in the evening of May 12 when the alarm in the church was off, breaking the glass shrine and making away with the skull.
“He prayed to God that he would be alone in the church – and that’s what happened,” said Mr Rajt.
“But he was obviously so determined to commit the crime that there was nothing to stop him.”
Local detective Jan Ujka said the man pleaded guilty and was charged with offences including theft. He is now facing pre-trial custody.
He added the man, who has no previous criminal record, faces up to eight years in prison if convicted. AFP
