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Auburn resident's Christmas decorations vandalized again

By Donathan Prater Staff Writer
Published: December 24, 2009

One neighbor described it as the “ultimate bah humbug.”

Auburn resident Lori Pitts said she agrees with that assessment.

Pitts awoke Wednesday morning to find out that a holiday grinch had let some of the air out of her family’s Christmas cheer when she discovered that four Christmas inflatables – a pair of snowmen, a fire truck with Santa and one of his reindeer sitting atop it and Snoopy depicted with a dog house – had been slashed at her Hazelwood Court home.

Pitts said the Christmas inflatables had been on display since Thanksgiving weekend.

All that greeted Pitts Wednesday morning were deflated ornaments and a spirit to match.

“I cried all morning when I saw it,” Pitts said.

This time it appears that a few of Pitts’ neighbors, who had similar holiday displays that included inflatables, weren’t spared either.

The incident marks the second time in as many years that a Christmas inflatable has been tampered with in the neighborhood.

Last year, Christmas-themed aviator Snoopy – complete with airplane – was stolen from Pitts’ front yard. Neighbors pitched in financially and replaced the yard decorations that time, she said.

Although he typically considers the neighborhood quiet, Pitts’ neighbor, Arnold Lindsay, said that there have been a few issues concerning crime as of late that
the Auburn community has had to deal with.

Lindsay, a 10-year resident of Jarrett Circle (adjacent to Hazelwood Court), said he’s had a pair vehicle break-ins over the past year or so.

When Lindsay heard what happened to Pitts’ Christmas inflatables, he summed it up simply.

“Man, that’s a real pisser,” Lindsay said. “It takes a pretty sorry person to do something like that.”

Picking the words to describe someone like that is easy for Lindsay, but picking the words to explain the damaged inflatables to Pitts’ son, Avery, 6, and daughter, Hannah, 7, who haven’t seen the damaged inflatables yet, will be difficult for her to choose.

“It’s kind of killed a little of the Christmas spirit, but if my children ask if we can put up more Christmas decorations, we’ll just have to come up with something.”