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View Full Version : Has anyone ever stolen your outdoor decorations?



Chazz
06-07-2011, 03:40 AM
My parents aren't quite up for the task of doing outdoor decorations anymore, and I'm more than happy to decorate their house for them since they don't live that far away. Anyway, this past winter, someone stole the extension cords going from the front of their house out to the Christmas lights in their front yard. The police said it was most likely copper thieves.

Has anyone here ever had Christmas decorations stolen? Any ideas/suggestions for ways to prevent such thefts from taking place? I'm not going to let thieves deter me from decorating my folks' place this year.

ornamentmaven
06-07-2011, 08:38 AM
Not personally, bvut I have heard of other people complaining about thefts

Jordan
06-08-2011, 12:58 AM
I put my decorations out on my 3rd storey balcony, so would-be thieves would need a ladder to steal them. :elf1:
My pastor used to put all kinds of decorations out on his lawn, but they were regularly stolen/broken. I don't think he does that anymore. :elf2:

cujiine
06-12-2011, 06:47 AM
I haven't personally had any of mine stolen, but I do live in a gated community where everyone knows everyone and knows who the trouble makers are. My across the street neighbor had a great set up her first year here with a bunch of jumbo candies and lollypops and about a week after she put them up, all of the candies were gone. We found the pieces strewn all over the community for the next two weeks and she put them back up. I'd suggest setting up a floodlight to go off when something moves around the decorations. Unless the decorations themselves move because the light will be on all night. But a lot of the times, the people who steal stuff like this aren't doing it to resell. They're usually annoying teenage kids who are bored and if the lights go on, someone is more likely to wake up and catch them.

jstorms
06-13-2011, 04:19 AM
It hasn't happened to me yet, but I worry about it. I have 14 Christmas trees and some inflatables in the yard that I secure with steal cables and locks. I keep the Christmas controllers safe in the garage.

Chazz
06-13-2011, 10:50 PM
That's crazy that this occurs even in a gated community. When I go over to my folks' place this year to do decorations, I plan to do what jstorms mentioned (secure everything that could otherwise be easily stolen). Thanks for all the input!

johnaschen
07-21-2011, 04:54 PM
You can use handmade items that are:-each letter carved into the wood,flame burned, handcarved lettering,lamps etc for outside decorations.

MinnesotaMike
09-03-2011, 10:37 PM
Unfortunately, it's a calculated risk for anyone who does outdoor displays. I know people who have security cameras and whatnot, but most people can't afford that kind of stuff. So far, I haven't had any problems. However, this year I'm a bit nervous because my display will be much bigger, and closer to the sidewalk. As mentioned before, it's typically not a "professional" thief. It's usually bored teenagers who get a kick out of it without really thinking or caring about the impact it has. I am just praying that I won't get targeted this year.

*Snowflake*
09-04-2011, 10:04 PM
Never happened to me because I live on the third floor and I never heard something like this happened in my neighbourhood too:rudolph:

mikaldinho
09-05-2011, 04:17 AM
The street I live on you couldn't put them up, because the second you blinked, they would be gone :(

Twinklebell
09-16-2011, 08:12 PM
Unfortunately even things in the back garden seem to go here. When we put rubbish out people have been known to look in the bags (!!) too to see what it was and anything 'free to a good home' put on the front is gone by the end of the day so a decoration wouldn't last long in our front garden sadly.

If it's possible to secure them I would - it'd be cheaper than replacing them if they get broken or stolen. Unfortunately you can't have anything anymore!

ToriBear
09-17-2011, 02:37 PM
Never had Christmas decorations stolen when I lived with my parents - then again, the most we'd ever done was lights on the house. (Though we did have lawn chairs stolen off of our front porch once when I was younger - my dad was FURIOUS!) My suggestion would be, as someone else said, motion-sensitive spot-lights. The simple act of a light coming on may be enough to scare the crap out of the little punks and scare them away. Never know, worth a shot! :) I also like the "secure whatever you can" approach. Hopefully they aren't thinking far enough ahead to bring bolt cutters or something though.

Its so sad that people actually steal Christmas decorations. Then again, I regularly have things (decorations, flowers, my Christmas wreath) stolen off my mother's grave, so it really shouldn't surprise me...

SilverBells
09-17-2011, 02:51 PM
No, but they've tried to knock them down a few times :(

MinnesotaMike
09-17-2011, 10:21 PM
I kind of hope that my stuff isn't all that appealing in terms of dollar value to any prospective thief. I'm more concerned about vandalism than theft.

SammieDsMom
09-19-2011, 09:47 PM
Our neighbor had their inflatable stolen. We put out inflatables too, but our house is much brighter in terms of lights. We have not had anything stolen from our yard. I am hoping it stays that way. :elf2:

Christmas_mama
09-19-2011, 10:55 PM
The street I live on you couldn't put them up, because the second you blinked, they would be gone :(

Same as this. My area is a little rough. I worry about leaving my car outside, let alone easy-to-steal decorations, and I'd be too gutted if somebody stole Christmas decorations so I don't put them up.

ornamentmaven
09-20-2011, 01:45 AM
I've never had anything stolen, but I live on a quiet, out of the way, dead-end street. We have no through-traffic yet most of the houses up here are decorated. You would think - why bother, but I guess we all do it for each other!

Chazz
01-05-2012, 09:57 AM
I'm happy to report that none of my folks' outdoor decorations (including extension cords) were stolen this past Christmas. That's an improvement compared to one year ago. This holiday season, I decided to take down everything before Jan. 1, and all the extension cords were wrapped around multiple trees, poles, and other items in their front yard during the month everything was on display.

mina553
01-05-2012, 11:42 AM
my mother had a lawn cresh that was so cute one night some one stold the baby Jesus we never found it ,
my yard is fenced around with gates & we have dogs .

olga
01-05-2012, 04:34 PM
Here is the funny thing.. 2 years ago, some guys stole baby Jesus from Nativity scene in our citys central square..
Last year, the mayor got another baby Jesus for the Nativity scene, but,,, guess,, they stole the baby, again!!

This year, they did not put a nativity scene in the central square, just an ice rink.. :)

mina553
01-06-2012, 02:09 AM
hahaha lol
we just never put our cresh back out again either its kicks 4 them to take the poor lil baby . not funny .

ornamentmaven
01-06-2012, 06:02 AM
Yes, the baby Jesus is always a target for thieves everywhere. This year a village near ours had the baby stolen again,but this time the thieves were caught and the baby recovered!

MinnesotaMike
01-06-2012, 09:07 AM
I made it without incident this year.

no_1_christmas_fan
01-13-2012, 09:40 PM
Thankfully not, but I can see how they may be a target for thieves.

olga
02-07-2012, 07:22 PM
My wreath on the outside door of my appartment. When I got home one evening, first days of January, it was not there.
I want my wreath back!! :santasmile:

winterview
05-30-2012, 09:55 PM
Outdoor decorations at my house usually are just a lighted deer or two on a small cliff overlooking the place, understated, and dangerous to steal as the snow tends to be deep, and the terrain up there is steep.

LOL, no one has ever even tried.

I would say a major problem in this area is kids in 4 wheel drive vehicles driving through the displays. That is bad because the displays are destroyed and then the lawn underneath gets torn up too.

Many home owners are getting some 1x4 boards and putting nails in them and then putting the boards amongst their decorations. The 4 flat tires the next morning makes it easy to figure out which SUV in town was the one that drove through your yard the night before.

Don't mess with Christmas!

stephmcuk
06-21-2012, 02:58 AM
no thankfully!!

but when i was a child my friend had her christmas presents stolen from under the tree, christmas eve!! they woke up to all them gone christmas morning! it was a horrible christmas obviously for them :(

Cinder
10-30-2012, 11:48 PM
No, nothing, thankfully!

angelpugs2
10-31-2012, 09:59 AM
never had anything happen.:elf3:5741

Falksonchristmas
10-31-2012, 10:39 AM
No, nothing in our garden, but some people in the area have had some flowerpots stolen.

ldiliberto
11-13-2012, 05:02 PM
Yes, someone stole our lighted deer, not cool, usually they just mount the deer on each other, kinda funny the first time

Merry Christmas Darling
12-09-2012, 01:40 AM
http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-baby-jesus-stolen-from-nativity-20121208,0,3290654.story

http://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/x1671795985/Baby-Jesus-statue-stolen-from-Quincy-Nativity-scene
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/12/06/baby-jesus-statue-stolen-from-quincy-nativity-scene/

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-12-05/news/os-nativity-baby-jesus-stolen-20121205_1_frostproof-donkey-fronds
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/06/baby-jesus-donkey-stolen-from-florida-nativity-scene/

http://fox43.com/2012/12/07/baby-jesus-stolen-from-nativity-scene-in-carlisle/#axzz2EVgQBQdW

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-12-04/national/35624646_1_jesus-statue-baby-jesus-nativity-scene

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x41558817/Police-probe-case-of-stolen-baby-Jesus-from-nativity?i=0

ornamentmaven
12-09-2012, 05:04 AM
Never and I don't know anyone personally who has!

Merry Christmas Darling
12-09-2012, 05:15 AM
Never and I don't know anyone personally who has!

That's good! I hope the police nab this thief or, better yet, that the thief feels guilty and returns the baby:


Police are seeking the public’s help in locating a suspect who stole the baby Jesus from a nativity scene. It was sometime between Dec. 4 and Dc. 5 when the baby Jesus was taken from the victim’s home located along the 100 block of Garland Drive, police said.

The nativity scene was made and hand-painted by the victim’s husband who recently passed away, according to police reports.
Read more: http://fox43.com/2012/12/07/baby-jesus-stolen-from-nativity-scene-in-carlisle/#ixzz2EWad8aVW

Sleeper
12-22-2012, 02:11 AM
There was one time when I thought I was getting robbed, but it turned out to be a young couple having pictures taken of themselves among our decorations.
Times have changed and I hear about this sort of thing all the time now. I don’t decorate as much as I used to because I was getting a little worried the caliber of visitors driving through the neighborhood. They didn’t quite appear to really be interested in Christmas. I know that should not be, but you just have to be cautious especially now and just not trust everybody.

Xmas Reality
12-22-2012, 11:24 PM
It's really quite bewildering to think we've now arrived at a time where folks take/steal other people's " Christmas decorations", of all things. It's the first time i ever heard of it, could never even imagine that such a thing happens, stealing Christmas Decorations. I grew up in times when one could leave the empty milk-bottles on the stoop for the milk man, plus the money and it would all still be there for the milk man, and the new bottles and the change when coming home from work. Times have changed indeed, a bit what ?
:my lord: