The perpetrators, whose identities are unknown, also broke into a cash register of a magazine stand and stole the money inside, the police said.
The pectoral cross was in a case in the wall of St. Oswald’s church in Traunstein, in the state of Bavaria, where the late Benedict spent his adolescent years.
Thieves broke into the case and took the item, which the former pope had bequeathed to the parish, between 11:45 am (0945 GMT) and 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Monday.
“For the Catholic Church, the value of this sacred object cannot be quantified,” Bavarian police said in a statement.
