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OK, Mary takers, let me get this straight.

Way before sunrise Aug. 22, you slipped a rope around the Virgin Mary statue in front of Greensboro’s Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church. You yanked hard, tilted it just enough and loosened the four bolts at the base.

At least that’s what Tom Johnson, the parish’s business project manager, thinks.

Then, with two lights beaming on the statue beside one of Greensboro’s busiest roads, you carted her off. She’s not heavy. She’s hollow, made of fiberglass, stands only 5 feet and weighs, maybe, 85 pounds.

Still, that’s pretty brazen. Right there along West Market Street.

I mean, she’s no garden gnome. She’s the Virgin Mary, one of the most famous women in the world, a cherished symbol of a church, a faith and a city.

And you stole her.

Some wonder if you hate Catholics or needed the money. But mostly, folks see it as a prank — possibly a college prank — because our five local campuses welcomed back their own just a few days before.

Still, your theft hurts.

Listen to the students at Our Lady of Grace School. Last week, during the school’s open house, principal Gary Gelo heard them ask all sorts of questions. Like this one:

"Our class used to go there and pray. What are we going to do now?"

Or catch up with Darlene Stanley, a social worker at Catholic Social Services.

She works at the red-brick building two dozen steps from the statue. Sometimes, after helping people needing money, a job or a sympathetic ear, she’ll sequester herself by the statue to, as she says, "dump her burdens.’’

But it’s not just Darlene. It’s hundreds of people. They come from everywhere to this special place, to sit, contemplate and pray.

Now, the statue you stole has left an emotional hole.

"My heart just sank," Darlene says of seeing the barren base. "I kept asking the question: 'Is nothing sacred anymore?’"

Every morning at 4 a.m., Frank Sumner comes to meditate in front of the statue. But everybody calls him Yogi Frank. You see, he’s a yoga instructor and personal trainer with a studio downtown.

On Aug. 22, a Wednesday, Yogi Frank brought a cushion from his white Jeep, laid it in front of the three benches, sat in a lotus position and began his breathing exercises.

He’s been doing this since 2002. During his meditation — and you can believe this or not — he says he has looked up and seen the face of Jesus, an aura of orange light and the statue taking off like a rocket.

But when he looked up Aug. 22, he just blinked. He couldn’t believe what he saw. Or didn’t see.

The statue was gone. So, he called the church. That’s how they found out.

Yet, your theft hasn’t stopped him. Yogi Frank has come back every morning to what he calls his "place of peace." So have many other people.

A concrete Virgin Mary is there now. It’s 3 feet tall, with the recognizable downcast eyes and upturned palms, and you can see it clearly from West Market.

But step closer, near the bushes and flowers a parishioner waters nearly every day after the 7 a.m. mass. Then, you’ll see something more.

The prayer cards.

The two sets of rosary beads.

And a bouquet of a half-dozen red roses with this note: "Dear Mary, We Love You & We Miss You."

Sometime soon, Our Lady of Grace will get another statue. It’ll run $3,500 to $4,000, and one parishioner already has offered to make up what the insurance doesn’t cover.

But the most interesting part? Parishioners say they aren’t angry. Neither are students at the school. You even became the subject of the students’ first Mass Wednesday.

"Mr. Gelo," a student told her principal, "we should pray for whoever took the statue, because they must really need someone to pray for them."

So, there’s hope. But I’d hate to have your conscience.

Taking Mother Mary, our own Lady of Grace. Why?

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jrowe@news-record.com