Baby Jesus Head on Canada Statue Slowly Melting in Rain

A baby Jesus head on a Canadian statue is slowly melting away in the rain, causing many visitors to do a double-take.

The head on the statue at Ste. Anne des Pins Church in downtown, Sudbury, Ontario, was meant to be temporary because the original head of the statue was lopped off and stolen, noted the CBC News.

Some have complained because the baby Jesus head has an orange hue while the rest of the statue is white, The Toronto Star reported. Others have complained that the head looks more like the animation character Lisa Simpson on "The Simpsons" television show than the baby Jesus

Now rain has started to slowly melt the head, staining other portions of the statue with the orange tint, the Star reported.

"It really is shocking to the eyes because of the big contrast in color," Rev. Gérard Lajeunesse, the priest at Ste. Anne, told CBC News. "The statue had been vandalized before, at least once, maybe twice.

"It's always Jesus' head that goes missing. Probably because it's smaller and easier to break off," he added, stating that when the statue was attacked again this fall, it could not be found. "This time we looked high and low. No head. No Jesus."

Local artist Heather Wise volunteered to create a replacement head, the Star said. Since she never sculpted in stone, she created an orange terracotta head with plans to then pain it white, noted the Star. Replacing the entire statue would have cost from $6,000 to $10,000, according to CBC News.

"The initial plan was to paint it, but it was never dry enough, and we're starting into the rainy seasons," Lajeunese told the Star. "She was upset with what was done."

Lajeunesse told CBC News that while many parishioners have expressed hurt, surprise, and disappointment with the new head, he said he hopes that the church will be able to replace it soon.

"It's a first try. It's a first go," Lajeunesse said, according to CBC News. "And hopefully what is done at the end will please everyone. I wasn't trained for this in seminary."

Many shared their opinions of the Baby Jesus head on Twitter.

📰DYING. "The new terracotta head ended up looking more like a menacing ghoul than a divine baby." #divinebaby https://t.co/QhBFnLQHIH

— Liz Devlin (@FLUXboston) October 20, 2016

Local artist gives baby Jesus a clay head, and the results are ... interesting https://t.co/UDz1tf9lKu

— Mike Patel (@TheMehulPatel) October 20, 2016

Via Fallnet, "Restoration of baby Jesus statue results in hideous hobgoblin head": https://t.co/FBeSvbgtbQ

— Alastair Reynolds (@AquilaRift) October 21, 2016

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