At a midnight Mass at St Patrick’s in Edinburgh‘s Old Town, two in attendance are reported to have become distressed before becoming violent and threatening.
One of the church’s three priests, Father Gerard Hatton, said he believed the incident was mental health-related.
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He did not see witness the incident, but when returning from a Christmas Eve dinner with colleagues saw several police officers in the church.
Hatton said: “I came back from dinner to find five policemen in the church and a man kneeling at the crib with his hands up. I was very confused. There was blood on the floor.
“One of the police officers came up to me and said, ‘It’s more complicated than you think.’’’
Hatton said a young woman known to the church had suffered a mental health episode, during which she lifted the figure off the altar and threw it.
A man appeared aggressive towards the church and put the statue in the bin.
“He was very aggressive and rude and was really angry at priests and the church,” Hatton said. “He was so violent.”
In a statement on Facebook, the church said: “We ask prayers for reparation tonight on this Vigil of the Lord’s Nativity, for the attack upon the Child Jesus, taken from the throne above the altar; also for the desecration of relics in the Lady Chapel, violence at the crib in the side aisle, and blood spilled in the sanctuary, side chapel and nave.
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“At the Easter Vigil we also had threats made against us; tonight another told us ‘you’re finished here’.
“We will bless the Church again after cleaning up the desecration. Encouraging all souls to turn to our patron, that St Patrick’s prayers will protect this oasis of prayer in the Old Town.”
Police Scotland have been contacted for comment.