Authorities say the thief who stole a Little Ferry war memorial was hoping to make some quick cash by selling it as scrap metal.

The 3-foot tall statue was taken from outside Little Ferry's Memorial School by Vincent McManus a.k.a. Michael Ruff, according to police. The statue, which is actually made of cement, is a tribute to Sgt. Matthew Fenton, a local Marine who gave the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq back in 2006.

McManus now faces theft charges.

"The reason he took it was he thought it was made of metal or bronze," says Lt. Frank Novak, of the Little Ferry Police Department. "He thought he could make some cash for it."

Police were unwilling to let the memorial stay missing.

"We got an anonymous tip that it was behind his house and underneath a garbage can," says Novak. Police were able to recover the statue only slightly damaged with a broken hand.

Authorities say the unemployed thief told police he wouldn't have taken the statue if he knew what it meant to the town.