When Christ was washed up, it was the officers from the town of Eagle Pass, Texas, who came to His rescue. Little did they know their actions would have such an impact.

When Christ was washed up, it was the officers from the town of Eagle Pass, Texas, who came to His rescue. Little did they know their actions would have such an impact.

The life-sized fibre-glass statue of the crucified Christ was discovered - minus its cross - stuck on a sandbar in the Rio Grande. Officers from the US Border Patrol recovered the statue and passed it to the local police, who placed it in the evidence room at their station, waiting for someone to come and claim it. They even informed the local media and asked that the word be spread.

But instead of hearing from the statue's owner, the police have been inundated with queries from local Catholics who are convinced that the fibre-glass figure is a message from God.

"He's telling us he's alive and he is here with us," Veronica de la Pena, 32, told the San Antonio Express-News newspaper. "He's trying to tell us that there is hope." Word of the statue has quickly spread among the Catholic community on both sides of the border. On the opposite side of the Rio Grande - separating the US from Mexico - newspapers in the Mexican town of Piedras Negras are calling the statue "Christ of the Undocumented", in reference to the scores of illegal immigrants who cross the river every year.

In Eagle Pass, dozens of people have been visiting the police station to pray in front of the statue, which is propped against a door in the entrance to the evidence room. The local police chief, Juan Castaneda, said: "Faith has led them to believe that this is a sign."

According to regulations, the police must keep the statue for 90 days. Usually, if no one comes forward to claim missing property, it is sold by the city council. In this case, the authorities have said they will donate it to the community: two local churches, Our Lady of Refuge and Saint Joseph's, have asked to keep the statue once the 90 days have passed.