Outdoor Christmas light display smashed by vandals for 3rd year in row

For a Port Coquitlam family, the Grinch may have smashed their outdoor Christmas light display but it hasn’t stolen their holiday spirit.

Tracy and Manuel Castro’s extravagant outdoor display at their single-family dwelling was vandalized for the third year in a row earlier this month. The coupled moved to their new home in the Tri-Cities three years ago and brought with them a family holiday tradition that first began nine years ago when a family member passed away.

The couple have spent countless hours and thousands of dollars on their display, adding new pieces to it every year.

However, earlier this month, their display was smashed over numerous nights for the third consecutive year. The display had just been set up a few days when the couple woke up to find pieces pulled out of their lawn, dragged onto the sidewalk and smashed. They did what they could in repairing their damaged displays immediately.

The following morning, they woke up to even more damage with six candy canes broken and a pair of metal husky statues stolen. Ornaments were also found kicked and shattered beyond repair at a nearby park.

The Castro’s estimate about $2,000 in damages have been made to their decorations over the last three years ever since they moved into the neighbourhood. Local teenagers are suspected to be responsible for the theft and vandalism.

Neighbours are upset with the antics of the vandals. Beyond knocking on their doorstep to speak with them, some have even gone as far as dropping off chocolates, bottles of wine and cards.

Given the circumstances and facing the possibility of even more expensive damage and repairs, the couple decided to take down their display early this year. Next Christmas, they intend to put their display back up and install surveillance cameras to hopefully deter the vandals.

Featured Image: Doug Meek / Shutterstock (file photo – not of the house in story)