Hamilton reports in his book The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem: “It is well known that two of the questions in the dispute between France and Russia which led up to the Crimean war were concerned with the rival claims to possession of the keys of the main doors of the basilica and of the crypt [Grotto of the Nativity], and with the mysterious theft one night in 1847 of the silver star with a Latin inscription which was let into a slab of marble beneath the altar of the Nativity. ”
Hamilton teatab oma raamatus The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem: „Prantsusmaa ja Venemaa vahelisest tülist, mis viis Krimmi sõjani, on hästi teada kaks tüliküsimust, millest üks oli seotud vastase taotlustega omandada basiilika ja krüpti (Sünnikoopa) peauste võtmed ning teine salapärase vargusega ühel 1847. aasta ööl, kui viidi ära hõbetäht koos Sünnialtari all oleva marmorplaadiga, millel oli ladinakeelne raidkiri. ”