"A rector of a local church has informed the alert unit of the police office in Dobropolie that an unidentified person has stolen a box with Saint George's relics from the church. Within several hours law enforcement agents have identified the offender," the statement read.
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A 28-year-old local man is suspected of committing the theft. The suspect said that he had heard about the relics' miraculous power, and had therefore decided to steal them.
A criminal case has been opened against the man under article 'Desecration of the grave, another burial site, or a dead person's body', the document added.
Saint George was a Roman soldier of Greek origin who was sentenced to death for refusing to renounce Christianity. He is usually portrayed riding a white horse and often slaying a dragon. He is highly venerated both in the Western and Eastern Christian churches.
