It seems as though every time I turn on the television I see yet another news report about some wacko dismantling, destroying, or stealing homeowners’ outdoor Christmas decorations. Just this week alone, seven homeowner’s in our city reported incidents of vandalism and theft involving outdoor nativity sets and inflatable holiday lawn decorations. It got me wondering whether this was an isolated event (as in just in the Midwest) or whether real-life Grinches are stealing Christmas decorations across the country?
I discovered that while it is not a national epidemic, there have been numerous reports of holiday vandals wreaking havoc on lawns nationwide. For example, in Northwest Florida, a Grinch (or Grinches) not only pulled out the power cord to one homeowner’s singing Santa, he or she also repeatedly ran over his head. According to police reports, the homeowner said she put her large singing Santa on display in her driveway, the same way she does every year, but when she awoke on Wednesday she found someone had run him over several times.
“They had to come all the way in and just run him over, back and forth,” the female homeowner told a local newspaper reporter. Santa “was a neat old guy,” she said. He also waved and shouted “Merry Christmas.” Now he is flat as a pancake—Merry Christmas!
If you think that’s bad consider this incident involving an outdoor nativity scene, also in Florida. According to local newspapers, baby Jesus was literally cut out of a local church’s wooden Nativity display.
“I hear all the time that Jesus has been taken out of everything and now he’s been taken out of his manger,” a church elder told news reporters.
According to police, the holiday pranksters who perpetrate these types of offenses rarely get caught. Officers say it’s a good idea to start a neighborhood watch program so you have others looking out for your property and can notify police of any suspicious activity.
In the meantime, a Florida churchgoer had this to say about the nativity vandalism:
“People should be taught not to steal (anything), but don’t take the baby Jesus for crying out loud.”
Have your holiday lawn decorations ever been stolen or vandalized?
Related Articles:
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Outdoor Décor: Decorate Your Yard for Christmas