It has to be one of the lowest, most pointless acts a criminal could do: steal a simple set of Christmas decorations from a young family's front yard.
But that's what happened to the Fairweathers, of Kingscliff, NSW, this week.
Martin Fairweather, dad to Maya, 6, and Allie, 2, said he's struggling to fathom why someone would bother to destroy the family's display.
Fairy lights, canes and solar stakes were among the items ripped from the yard, and a frangipanni was left a mere stump after strings of lights were ripped from its branches.
"It's not the cost, it's more the fact that they did that, and that they destroyed the tree," he said.
The young girls are understandably very disappointed by the senseless act.
"They are pretty upset," Mr Fairweather said.
"They liked going out at night to look at them."
Mr Fairweather is warning other families in the area that there are people in his local community who will undertake such a senseless act.
It hasn't killed their Christmas plans for next year, but Mr Fairweather said there would be one change: the family will be moving its entire display to the roof, which currently features lights and a Santa.
Similar acts around Australia
The Fairweathers aren't alone - after posting this article on the Essential Baby Facebook page, parents around Australia have shared stories of vandals ruining their decorations, too.
A well-known case occurred in Trigg: the display, at 130 Arnott Street, uses around 10,000 computer controlled channels which coordinate around 15,000 lights, set to nine different songs. The family collects money to donate to charity. But on December 2, vandals used golf clubs to trash the lights and pull the Christmas tree display down.
The incident was caught on security camera and the owners of the house are calling for the public's assistance to identify the criminals.
]]>- Daily News and staff writers
