CCTV captures ‘Grinch’ stealing Christmas tree in Boston

A community group in Boston is calling for the return of a Christmas tree, after surveillance footage recorded a man pilfering it from the Boston Lithuanian Community Centre in Lincolnshire. The Christmas tree, which measured 4ft (1.2m), was alleged to have been stolen on 14 December. Jurate Matulioniene, the chairwoman of the group, referred to the thief as a ‘Grinch’, stating that he ‘placed our tree on his shoulder and vanished.’ In keeping with the holiday spirit, she urges the man to ‘reflect on his actions’ and return the tree.

Ms Matulioniene remarked that the volunteers found the tree missing when they showed up at their hub at Fountain Place the following day. After perusing the CCTV footage, they deduced the theft took place around 21:40 GMT. ‘Someone stole our community spirit that we wished to share with others,’ Ms Matulioniene further clarified. ‘I believe it must have brought him happiness. My husband speculated that “potentially, this man required the tree more than we did”.

Ms Matulioniene optimistically expects that the offender will return the tree next Christmas. ‘We want this person to reflect on his actions,’ she said. ‘We hope that in the coming year his heart will enlarge and shine so brightly that he will adorn this tree even more splendidly than we did, thus restoring our festive cheer.’ In the aftermath of the theft, the community group publicised this message: ‘Respect public places and our community; Christmas is a time for giving, not taking.’

The Lincoln Post adapted this story from the original reporting by www.bbc.com.