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MIDDLE STEWIACKE, N.S. - A Nova Scotia family is hoping a thief will have a change of heart and return a statue of Jesus that was stolen from a deceased relative's grave.

Rees Rockey says he first noticed the concrete statue was missing from his brother Jim's grave on Thursday as he was driving by the local cemetery.

He doubled back to have a closer look.

"I had my grandsons with me and we stopped and we went down and sure enough, it was gone," Rockey said Friday from his home in Middle Stewiacke, N.S.

Rockey believes the 90-kilogram statue was stolen sometime last week, and the RCMP are investigating the theft.

The family is offering a $300 reward for the return of the statue, which Jim Rockey requested be put on his grave before he died suddenly in July 2001 at the age of 52.

His family still doesn't know what caused his death.

Rockey is survived by three daughters and a wife, who now live in Ontario. His brother says he hasn't been able to get in touch with them yet about the missing statue.

The grave marker was made in Prince Edward Island, and sits in a concrete dome and features a painted red heart on the statue's chest.

Rees Rockey says the theft has upset his family and he hasn't the faintest clue why someone would steal the statue.

"I would think it would have to be a different sort of person that would do something like that," he said.