Christmas Decorations - Union Hall,VA

Welcome to the neighborhood, huh? Do others have decorations up? Maybe folks are targeting the people who used to live there. Or I guess you know what the high schoolers are up to on the first night of vacation.

I'm sorry. I'd be pissed, too.The Zen thing to do is say those people needed them, and you have everything you need. Omm.

The same kind of people who smash Halloween pumpkins or go around slashing the inflatable displays.

I'd report it anyway - tell the police it's not a financial issue but you want them to know.

I had someone do that to us many years ago - we happened to come home from an evening event and came in the back door only to find someone on the front porch taking things. I went to the front door and the 18 year old doing the mischief smashed the porch lights so he couldn't be identified. Too late. It took a while, but the police caught him and his buddies (in the "getaway car" with a car full of decorations). Charges were filed. I went to court, identified the guy I saw, they had to pay for new porch lights for me. One of them was "known to police" and this was just one more thing on his record. It was very enlightening for the parents of the other 2 boys.

So yeah, report it but expect nothing. Sometimes when enough people make noise, the police can and do take action. Otherwise, try to have pity on people for whom this sort of vandalism is a turn-on. My husband calls it "big moments in little lives" when people have to resort to destruction because they are so unhappy.

Sorry this happened to you.

It has happened in our neighborhood this year. We live in a very nice upscale neighborhood and I just don't put a lot if decorations outside.

I do have a security camera that works 24/7 so If someone approached our home, they are on camera. Most homes in out neighborhood have cameras and they do help curb the issue.

I would file a police report or at least let the neighborhood and police be aware if the activity!

I'm sorry it happened to you.
Merry Christmas!

Oh, yes. We usually put luminarias out for a few days before Christmas - not the electrical ones; the old-fashioned ones with a candle in a lunch bag with sand (or kitty litter) in the base. They were nothing from which anyone could make a profit by taking them away.

Once in a while, I'll find a smooshed one in the morning - which usually means that a kid was riding a bicycle and veered off the sidewalk. It happens.

But one year, somebody took all of them.

Why? It wasn't sensible. It certainly wasn't neighborly. But most people do non-sense-ical things at one time or another. It falls in the category of toilet-papering a yard or spray-painting a wall. You just have to file such things away under the category of Stoopid. And, although you don't want to call the police, if you see a police car in your neighborhood, you might just want to mention this. There may be other acts of vandalism going on.

I hope it won't spoil your Christmas. Maybe you can make up for it by putting some battery-operated candles in your windows - the INSIDE of your windows.

Hopefully just stupid teens. The thought of grown ups doing something like that is just too much to bear.

Put a sign where the decoration closest to the street was that says "I hope you're enjoying the decorations you stole. You should be ashamed of yourself! Merry Christmas!" Maybe they'll feel guilty and put them back!

A couple of months ago, someone stole my chiminea right off my front porch. Then, my husband put up this huge blow up snowman for Christmas and not more than hour later a group of kids were out on my lawn kicking and punching. I am baffled by the behavior of some people.

That is so sad. :-( We don't have that problem in our neighborhood, but I have friends in other towns/cities that can not have any lawn decorations at all because they will always walk off or get vandalized.

Hi, Feline:

The first time the person stole your ornaments from the yard,
the police needed to be notified.
It is not about the cost of the ornaments, it is the fact that
someone got by stealing. This may be a gateway to bigger thefts.

Call the police non emergency number. He may give you a clue what's
going on in your neighborhood. Do you belong to a Civic League? They are the self-governing body of your neighborhood as well.

Good luck.
D.

I wish they would come and steal the tacky decorations my husband put up.

Maybe the thief stole from you because the person the thief stole from right before you didn't report it either and just complained about it online instead.