German police reported that the cross that former Pope Benedict XVI wore on his chest was stolen from a church in the Southern part of the country where it was on display.

The late pope had spent his youth years at St. Oswald's church in Germany; in remembrance of his memory, the cross was kept there to be displayed in a case on the wall. 

The thieves had reportedly broken into the church to steal the cross on Monday midnight. 

"For the Catholic Church, the value of this sacred object cannot be quantified," Bavarian police said in a statement.  

The Police added that the thieves, who are still unknown, also stole the cash register of a magazine stand in the vicinity. 

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Ex-Pope Benedict, the first German-born Pope in 500 years, died back in December 2022 at the age of 95 in the Vatican.

Mourning the Pope, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the world had lost a 'formative figure' of the Catholic Church with Benedict's death.

Benedict, whose birth name was Joseph Ratzinger, resigned from the position in 2013, citing declining health. He was the first Pope since the Middle Ages to resign. The Bavarian-born Ratzinger was named Pope in 2005.

He had been living a quiet life in a former convent inside the Vatican grounds since his resignation in February 2013.

His health had been declining for a long time, but the Vatican revealed on Wednesday that his situation had worsened, while his successor Pope Francis called for Catholics worldwide to pray for him.

His death brings to an end an unprecedented situation in which two popes -- Benedict and Francis -- had co-existed within the walls of the tiny city-state.

Check out: Pope Benedict XVI passes away