 Nativity scenes have not escaped controversy . A life @-@ sized scene in the United Kingdom featuring waxworks celebrities provoked outrage in 2004 , and , in Spain , a city council forbade the exhibition of a traditional toilet humor character in a public nativity scene . People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ( PETA ) indicates that animals in living displays lack proper care and suffer abuse . In the United States , nativity scenes on public lands and in public buildings have provoked court challenges , and the <unk> theft of ceramic or plastic nativity figurines from outdoor displays has become commonplace . 
