Theft charges for 2 arrested in connection with stolen angel statue found in Philadelphia scrapyard - NJ.com

Police have released the names of two Mercer County residents arrested in connection with the disappearance of the statue of St. Michael in Trenton. The lifesize statue was cut off at the feet in May and later found in a Philadelphia scrapyard.

Kevin L. Hampton, 51, of Lawrenceville, and Zachary Carey, 48, of Trenton, were charged with theft and desecration of venerated objects, police said.

According to police, the statue, titled “Angel of Faith,” was cut from its base in the early hours of May 5 and loaded into Hampton’s GMC Sierra pickup truck. It was sold for $1,626 at a Philadelphia scrapyard, and Trenton detectives found it there on May 19.

Video footage was used to identify and track down the vehicle, which led to the arrests, police said. While the arrests of Hampton and Carey were announced several weeks ago, their identities were not released until June 20.

Plans are underway to repair the statue, which stands 12- to 15-feet high when mounted on its pedestal, and return it to its location on North Warren Street, where it has stood since 1986.

It’s home is a traffic island-like minipark between two historic churches, the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, one of the Catholic Diocese of Trenton’s cathedrals, and the namesake St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, which predates the founding of the country.