Under the cover of night, the unidentified Grinch worked quickly, snuffing out the Christmas lights at Michael Regina’s home and moving on within seconds.
At least two other homes were hit on the same street in the Montreal suburb of Kirkland, but only Regina caught a glimpse of the culprit. His doorbell security camera captured the moment the hooded vandal cut out the lights.
“Suddenly they just reach up with clippers, cut the wires, and casually walked up my driveway and left,” Regina told CTV Montreal on Thursday. “I have no idea why. It’s bizarre.”
Regina filed a police report and a complaint to the city, but he’s one of the luckier victims on his street. One of his neighbours has had their lights cut twice this holiday season.
Christmas lights are apparently a common temptation for suburban vandals. Last year, in Gwinnett County, Ga., in the U.S., a group ripped out small tree displays and driveway arches in front of a home, before one of them slipped and fell on the sidewalk. In Oregon that year, the culprit behind several reports of broken holiday lights turned out to be a squirrel.
Other neighbours in the Montreal suburb are convinced they know who the culprit is, and it’s not a squirrel -- or a Grinch. According to one woman:
“You can call the police -- it’s Scrooge.”
