The sign read "Refugees are Welcome Here," and it was missing from the lawn of the Nassau Presbyterian Church Monday morning.
PRINCETON - In January, a local Presbyterian church that's working to find housing for a Syrian refugee family gave a nod to those efforts with a large sign welcoming refugees into Princeton and the church.
But only a week later it was gone.
A banner that went missing from the Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton Feb. 1, 2016 Someone must have ripped the sign from beams that secured it to the ground, Lauren McSeaters, Associate Pastor at the Nassau Presbyterian Church said Tuesday.
"They had to have used some force," she added.
Church staff first realized that the sign - which read, "Refugees are Welcome Here" - was missing Monday morning, McSeaters said.
"It was very secure on the crossbars. We were really surprised (that it was gone)," she added.
Church staff called the police and filed a complaint. A Princeton police report says that the sign had been stolen between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.
"The investigation revealed that nothing bias in nature occurred and that the investigation is ongoing," the report said.
McSeaters said that the church has been placing similar signs with different messages on their front lawn for years but they've never been stolen.
"This one was different," she said.
The incident comes only a month after the church announced that they are trying to find housing for a refugee family from Syria with the help of the Church World Service in Jersey City. They're also partnering with the Princeton Theological Seminary, which has offered to help with housing the family.
It could be a matter of weeks or a matter of months until the Church World Service has a family in need of housing - the sign was one of the Presbyterian church's many ways of preparing for the call.
But despite the apparent theft, McSeaters said she and other church members are not discouraged.
The church is having another sign delivered and they've gotten the word out about the missing sign.
It's almost a blessing, McSeaters said.
"More people know about the sign and the fact that a family is coming," she added.
As for the person who took the sign, McSeaters said the doors of the Presbyterian Church are open to them, as well as the incoming refugee family.
"It just makes me all the more dedicated to the inclusion of humanity," She said.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.