Actually, I hadn't heard of this particular figure, but it's not uncommon for traditional celebrations of the Nativity to include crude figures. The classic instance is "The Second Shepherds Play." Shepherds were traditionally known to be rude and clownish, which simply increases the wonder that God would include them among those who welcomed Jesus at His birth.
After all, it's a fallen world, and Jesus came into it to save sinners and idiots, not just the cultured and elegant few.
Boy, I must've led a sheltered childhood, lol! In my entire life, I've never seen any crude Nativity scenes, except ones set up by atheists to mock Christ.