CINCINNATI (AP) — A suburban Cincinnati man says someone vandalized the "Zombie Nativity" scene he puts up annually, beheading the ghoulish-looking Mary figure and flipping the greenish baby Jesus into the yard.

Jasen Dixon says someone damaged the handmade scene early Tuesday at his home in Sycamore Township, northeast of Cincinnati. He has since repaired the scene and says he'll keep rebuilding it if necessary.

Dixon tells WCPO-TV it's the first time someone has intentionally damaged the structure since he started the holiday display in 2014.

But it's been a topic of controversy previously. The township took Dixon to court last year for alleged zoning violations because of the structure over the nontraditional nativity scene, but it eventually dropped the case.

Dixon's attorney argued the township was trying to suppress his freedoms.

[STORY BY: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]

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