Christmas yard decorations destroyed.... Husband says no more

[gr8tdame]

Every year my husband gets so excited and anxious to decorate our house and yard with lights but for the last three years people have trashed the lights in our neighborhood. Ten years ago teenagers sometime moved around our deers and put them in compromising positions but they did not destroy the lighted lawn ornaments.
Three years ago someone smashed our lighted train and threw it in the road and broke our 3 deer. The following year we purchased 2 new lighted penguins. They were pulled from the ground and smashed as well as all the another yard ornaments. This year dh bought a brand new lighted dog and deer for the front lawn. This morning they were pulled off the lawn and thrown about. Dh has now had it and will no longer have a yard display. People used to stop and look at our display and small children really would enjoy. It makes me so sad to think someone gets their kicks from doing this. I needed to vent.

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[JDX4]

I am so sorry that this keeps happening to you. It must be so disappointing to find your displays destroyed. What is wrong with people?!?!

 

[Mermaid02]

Has he thought about setting up a camera?

 

[JessB320]

How horrible!! I'm so sorry, people can be such jerks. I would be tempted to invest in security cameras. They are pretty cheap now days. Get some second hand decor to set up as bait and see if you can figure out who is doing it. I wonder if it's the same person or group of people every year??

 

[JessB320]

Has he thought about setting up a camera?

Hehe you and I think alike!

 

[scrapquitler]

Every year my husband gets so excited and anxious to decorate our house and yard with lights but for the last three years people have trashed the lights in our neighborhood. Ten years ago teenagers sometime moved around our deers and put them in compromising positions but they did not destroy the lighted lawn ornaments.
Three years ago someone smashed our lighted train and threw it in the road and broke our 3 deer. The following year we purchased 2 new lighted penguins. They were pulled from the ground and smashed as well as all the another yard ornaments. This year dh bought a brand new lighted dog and deer for the front lawn. This morning they were pulled off the lawn and thrown about. Dh has now had it and will no longer have a yard display. People used to stop and look at our display and small children really would enjoy. It makes me so sad to think someone gets their kicks from doing this. I needed to vent.

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Wow... those people who did that have some nerve. Personally, I would call the police and make a report. It probably won't do any good, but you never know...it might be part of a wave of vandalism that they are already investigating.

I'm wondering...do other decorations in the neighborhood get trashed or are they just yours? Are they only your CHristmas decorations, or do other holiday decorations get vandalized too? How about non-holiday items?

 

[eliza61]

Has he thought about setting up a camera?

Hehe you and I think alike!

Great minds think a like.

Op, a few summers ago and group of teenagers for some reason spent the summer driving around in a car with a baseball bat, smashing mailboxes. I mean literally driving down the side of streets simply swinging.
my development has a block watch, contacted police, etc etc

One neighbor put in an inexpensive motion video camera. caught the guys and the car.
Rumor has it that not only did they get in trouble but evidently the charges were more serious because it was tampering with the US mail (who knew) and the owner of the car evidently was charged with a misdemeanor.

 

[HM]

Is your backyard more secure? Could you decorate back there....for your own enjoyment?

I'm so sorry you haven't been able to keep your house the way you want it. It's just awful.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Every year my husband gets so excited and anxious to decorate our house and yard with lights but for the last three years people have trashed the lights in our neighborhood. Ten years ago teenagers sometime moved around our deers and put them in compromising positions but they did not destroy the lighted lawn ornaments.
Three years ago someone smashed our lighted train and threw it in the road and broke our 3 deer. The following year we purchased 2 new lighted penguins. They were pulled from the ground and smashed as well as all the another yard ornaments. This year dh bought a brand new lighted dog and deer for the front lawn. This morning they were pulled off the lawn and thrown about. Dh has now had it and will no longer have a yard display. People used to stop and look at our display and small children really would enjoy. It makes me so sad to think someone gets their kicks from doing this. I needed to vent.

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Awww, that's terrible. People can be so cruel.

One year, our lights were stolen & we called the police. They basically shrugged their shoulders and said "probably kids", and that was that.

Seems nothing (or very, very little) will be done without this being captured on film, so I agree with the suggestion of a camera.

 

[loveshak22]

This makes me sad! I think it's great that your hubby loves to get the house decorated at Christmas and I know I personally would love it if I lived near you. I always feel like there are less and less houses decorated every year.

It's a shame that people destroy your property like that. I agree with the camera because police will probably do nothing if you call because they'll figure it's kids. But if you have video of the kids then they'd probably follow-up.

I wish you could somehow put a light electric charge on the displays so that if someone touches them they'll get a surprise!!

 

[Kim&Chris]

This makes me sad! I think it's great that your hubby loves to get the house decorated at Christmas and I know I personally would love it if I lived near you. I always feel like there are less and less houses decorated every year.

It's a shame that people destroy your property like that. I agree with the camera because police will probably do nothing if you call because they'll figure it's kids. But if you have video of the kids then they'd probably follow-up.

I wish you could somehow put a light electric charge on the displays so that if someone touches them they'll get a surprise!!

Great idea!!!! (But the way things are these days, YOU would probably end up sued if they were shocked!!!)

 

[tiggger1]

a friend of ours uses a motion detected sprinklers....they are normally used to deter animals from his garden but he puts them near his display... the other day he woke to the sounds of teens screaming....they were soaked.... he got their license plate number and called the cops....

 

[minkydog]

a friend of ours uses a motion detected sprinklers....they are normally used to deter animals from his garden but he puts them near his display... the other day he woke to the sounds of teens screaming....they were soaked.... he got their license plate number and called the cops....

What a great idea! Better than an electrical charge. I hope they froze their buns off!

 

[gr8tdame]

Wow... those people who did that have some nerve. Personally, I would call the police and make a report. It probably won't do any good, but you never know...it might be part of a wave of vandalism that they are already investigating.

I'm wondering...do other decorations in the neighborhood get trashed or are they just yours? Are they only your CHristmas decorations, or do other holiday decorations get vandalized too? How about non-holiday items?

Police reports have been made every year. They do it to everyone. It only seems to happen during the holidays to the lawn decor. Although one year there were teens driving through the neighborhood shooting out car windows with an air rifle. Even though many security cameras caught footage of the teens in their vehicle no arrests were made.

Is your backyard more secure? Could you decorate back there....for your own enjoyment?

Our backyard is also decorated but my husband loves to do the front for the neighborhood kids.

I'm so sorry you haven't been able to keep your house the way you want it. It's just awful.

I just find it hard to comprehend what the thrill is?

Awww, that's terrible. People can be so cruel.

One year, our lights were stolen & we called the police. They basically shrugged their shoulders and said "probably kids", and that was that.

Seems nothing (or very, very little) will be done without this being captured on film, so I agree with the suggestion of a camera.

Even with this being captured on film by one of the neighbors the county police who have jurisdiction just shrug their shoulders and say it is just teenage vandals and they are wearing hoodies. It is a shame because each year there are fewer and fewer houses being decorated for all the holidays.
We still have Santa climbing in the chimney on the roof and the trees and bushes and rooftop and eaves all lit up but none of the animated lighted sculptures on the lawn.
DH put the new 4ft dog ( which he repaired yesterday) on the back patio looking in the family room window and drew my attention to it last night by turning it on and singing to me "how much is that doggie in the window?"
I call him "Mr. Griswald from National Lampoon Christmas. We had another fuse box installed to handle the lights.
Well, at least now our electric bill will be much lower.

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[ladypage]

Great minds think a like.

Op, a few summers ago and group of teenagers for some reason spent the summer driving around in a car with a baseball bat, smashing mailboxes. I mean literally driving down the side of streets simply swinging.
my development has a block watch, contacted police, etc etc

One neighbor put in an inexpensive motion video camera. caught the guys and the car.
Rumor has it that not only did they get in trouble but evidently the charges were more serious because it was tampering with the US mail (who knew) and the owner of the car evidently was charged with a misdemeanor.

But apparently anything with mail boxes turns in to a federal offense. A few years ago we had some mean girls take some black spray paint and write cruel things on a newly pregnant friends windows and car. They got over excited and decided to spray paint things all over the neighborhood. The biggest mistake they made was tagging a mailbox, because ti pushed the charges up to federal.

 

[Kimbysmom]

a friend of ours uses a motion detected sprinklers....they are normally used to deter animals from his garden but he puts them near his display... the other day he woke to the sounds of teens screaming....they were soaked.... he got their license plate number and called the cops....

That's awesome

OP, I'm so sorry that these punks keep destroying your Christmas displays and that the police won't seem to do anything about it. I never did understand how someone could get a rush out of destroying other people's property .

 

[dakcp2001]

I am ashamed to admit this now, but in high school we took a picture of the band teachers house all decorated, then we stole all the decorations. Then in June a week before graduation we snuck back and redecorated it exactly how we found it like the picture. At the time, this was the biggest crime us band geeks committed. Poor guy was so baffled. I have no idea whose idea it was, but well, a lot of us participated. It was funny then.

 

[DebbieB]

My aunt made a snowman out of plywood, about 4 feet tall and painted and decorated it herself. She got a rebar and brackets to hold it up and put it in my front yard as a gift. One night I heard a strange noise outside but didn't see anyone. When I went out the next morning, all that was there was the rebar! Someone actually took it! I never put decorations out again in that neighborhood. I moved this year and put lighted candy canes that I got from Home Depot and put lights on my bushes in front of my windows. So far they have not been touched, I doubt they will be, my new neighborhood is pretty secluded, it's a townhouse development.

 

[burnurcomputer]

Move to my area of Pa!! We love Griswald style decorations

 

[ellone]

The punk teen that lived behind my parents would pull up all my mothers flowers. She would replant and he would do it again. Finally my dad put grease on the stems - like professional hard to wash off stuff. The flowers were left alone after that. Any way you can grease up the decorations?