The man suffered a nasty cut to the head and fled the St Benno Church without the donation box, said Ludwig Sperrer, the church’s priest.

He said it seemed that the near-life-size statue of Saint Antonius had fallen from its wooden plinth as the would-be thief was trying to break open the donation box which was situated in the same wooden structure.

“He obviously did not want to let it go,” said Sperrer with a grin.

But the thief was obviously not convinced to change his ways by the falling saint – he went to a nearby house to ask for help with his bleeding head and his lady accomplice stole a wallet left lying on a counter.

DAPD/hc