It's not a typical Christmas story but arguably it involves grinches, what some may describe as a miracle, and even a touch of redemption.
On Sunday thieves stripped a church near Nelson of all its precious items - everything from the sound system to the communion plate and even a Gottfried Lindauer painting.
Pieces of the ceiling were left hanging after the burglars tried to pull the heaters down. Pastor Andy Marr of St Paul's Lutheran Church in Upper Moutere turned up ahead of Sunday service to find the ominous sign of a door ajar and the church picked over.
"What we have been left with are the church pews which are very heavy, the organ and the piano," Marr told Checkpoint early on Tuesday.
Following that interview, he called Checkpoint back with some good news.