The strange and curious mystery of the monstrance found on the R train in Bay Ridge on Tuesday morning, Jan. 2, has been solved.

The unique religious item has been claimed by the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Manhattan. It had gone missing some time before 7:30 a.m. that morning when it had been left out on the altar in preparation for exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

A surveillance tape showed a man taking the monstrance out of the church. Father Andrew at St. Francis said that the man was not immediately recognized. He added that no one was in the church at the time, adding that the cold weather had dwindled the congregation in recent days.

A woman found the unique religious item on the subway and brought it to the office at the 95th St. station, the last stop for the R train in Brooklyn.

According to protocol, the piece was then transported to the MTA lost and found facility at 34th St. and Eighth Ave. in Manhattan, ironically only a block from where it had been taken.

Father Andrew said the theft had been reported to the police and he was going to retrieve the monstrance as quickly as possible. He was alerted to the whereabouts after The Tablet placed a photo on its Facebook page, someone saw it and identified it as being from St. Francis of Assisi.

The Franciscan priest said that the monstrance was special because it was very

colorful and decorated ornately with enamel angels. He estimated it that it was worth several thousands of dollars.

The Tablet was notified about the item when Brooklyn parishioner, Mitch Jakuboski, snapped a photo of it in the Bay Ridge station and brought it to the office.