A topless activist from a feminist group was arrested Monday after trying to steal a statue of baby Jesus at the Vatican in Rome.
A topless activist from a feminist group was arrested after trying to steal a statue of baby Jesus at the Vatican in Rome on Christmas Day.
The woman — wearing black pants, shoes and writing on her body — jumped over guard rails and charged toward the Nativity scene shouting “God is woman,” in St. Peter’s Square, according to a Reuters photographer who captured the incident on Monday.
She was identified as Alisa Vinogradova on Femen’s website which called her a “sextremeist.” The group was founded in 2008 in Ukraine and its goal is “complete victory over patriarchy.”
Vinogradova also had “God is woman” written on her bare back,” according to the site.
The Vatican police eventually caught up to Vinogradova and tackled her to the ground as she was grabbing the statue from the Nativity scene.
“FEMEN demands from the Vatican to immediately release the activist, leave women alone and condemn pedophilia in the highest church hierarchy!” a post by the group reads.
The incident came two hours before Pope Francis delivered his annual Christmas message to more than 50,000 people in the square, according to Reuters.
In 2014, another Femen activist carried out the same act on Christmas Day but managed to take the baby Jesus statue before cops arrested her in the square.
