Three thieves were arrested for stealing $1 million worth of bronze art and selling the raw materials to a junk shop for a measly $4,000. The owner of a Hinesburg scrap metal yard called authorities after seeing a newspaper report about the thefts with a photo of one of the sculptures.

A couple was united on Christmas day by a minister dressed in a Santa outfit. The nuptials were that of Dave Hauck Jr. and Cathy Spencer, who met during a company Christmas party, and got engaged while visiting Santa at the local mall. The couple was dressed in red, and the ceremonies were held at the second-floor art studio/chapel located at the home of the minister Gary Michael, who that day was dressed as Santa while uniting the couple.

A man from Washington went to the extreme of dramatizing his protest against what he called the commercialization of Christmas by nailing Santa Claus to a 15-foot crucifix in front of his house. Art Conrad even took a photo of his crucified Santa to adorn the Christmas cards he sent to friends and relatives with a message, "Santa died for your MasterCard. "Conrad said, "Santa has been perverted from who he started out to be. Now he's the person being used by corporations to get us to buy more stuff. ''

A Washington man is going all out to show his disdain for Christmas commercialism. In lieu of the traditional snowman or the nativity scene, Art Conrad has put up a Santa Claus nailed to a 4. 5-meter crucifix in front of his house.

Two paintings were stolen from a Brazilian museum, including a Picasso, when thieves broke in Thursday morning. The break in lasted a total of three minutes, but that was enough for the thieves to make off with Picasso's "Portrait of Suzanne Bloch. " Candido Portinari's "O Lavrador de Cafe" was also stolen from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art. Investigators say the thieves appear to be professionals and used a car jack to pry into a metal pull-down gate over the museum's front door. Then, they broke two glass doors and took the paintings from the museum's second floor.