Authorities recovered on July 16 the stolen crown of thorns and cushion from a female resident of adjacent Porac town in Pampanga province of the venerated wooden picture of the dead Christ known as "Apung Mamacalulu" (Merciful Lord).

On Sunday, police reported that the incident occurred on July 14, and the security cameras within the Archdiocesan Shrine of Christ Our Lord of the Holy Sepulchre in Lourdes Sur village saw the woman entering the chamber of the holy sculpture and stealing the crown and cushion at 4:30 a.m.

The Angeles City Tourism Auxiliary (Acta) and the Angeles City Emergency Disaster Command Center traced the suspect's movement using security cameras situated in various parts of this city, which showed her traveling to Porac town, as soon as they received the report.

Acta members soon tracked down the woman at her home in a nearby development and recovered the stolen things from her.

The woman was taken to the local police station for questioning, but the shrine's pastoral council opted not to press charges against her, according to separate statements from the Acta and the municipal police.

Social media posts by the woman's neighbors and acquaintances portrayed her as having a mental health condition as a result of tremendous stress caused by a family crisis in the past.

The pastoral council praised the local government and the police for recovering the crown and pillow on the shrine's Facebook page.

The dark wooden sculpture of Apung Mamacalulu in the archdiocesan shrine was made by a sculptor named Buenaventura, who was commissioned by Catholic priest Fr. Macario Paras to create a depiction of the dead Christ between 1829 and 1849.

Every October, this densely urbanized city holds a dual festival to honor its patrons.

La Naval was built to venerate the Virgin of the Holy Rosary and to celebrate the Spanish fleet's victory over the Dutch navy in Manila Bay in 1646.

The second is "Pyestang Apu" in honor of Apung Mamacalulu.