An Uptown homeowner believes someone with a deeply flawed understanding of the term “holiday spirit” is behind the mutilation and theft of her family’s beloved baby blue spruce.
Molly Wilson noticed the vandalism on Saturday when she went into the front yard of the family’s Washington Avenue home around noon and saw, to her horror, that the 5-year-old evergreen had been sawed in half. The vandal had made off with the top four feet of the tree.
“I had my husband take it out right away. I couldn’t stand to look at it like that,” said Wilson.
Wilson said the tree was given to her by her mother and grandmother to celebrate her son’s birth. It became a family tradition to take photos in front of the tree to give to relatives. Wilson said that she believes whoever vandalized the tree had had their eye on it and likely took it as a holiday decoration. Police canvassed the neighborhood, but were unable to find any trace of the missing portion of the tree. Wilson, meanwhile, said she would replace the tree, but not with a spruce.
“I will plant something there,” said Wilson. “Just not something that looks like a Christmas tree.”
Anyone with information on the vandalism should call Kingston police at (845) 331-1671 or submit an anonymous tip using the Tipsoft: app on the department’s Facebook page.
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