Reindeer legless before Christmas

They boost festive cheer in the lead up to Christmas, but reindeer decorations in Blenheim’s parks have been crippled by vandals.

The decorations were set up on Saturday afternoon and by Sunday morning a reindeer in Liz Davidson Park had a leg broken.

On Monday morning, the front legs of a reindeer in Seymour Square were also discovered broken.

The reindeer belong to the Blenheim Business Association (BBA) and are to be seen by a ‘‘surgeon’’ who will fix them up.

BBA chairwoman Lynette Rayner said the vandalism was ‘‘quite disappointing actually’’.

‘‘People suggest that this stuff is going to happen, but I do wonder why. People complain that there’s nothing festive and that we don’t get anything joyous in town, and then you get stuff like that.’’

The reindeer had been vandalised in the past, she said.

It was a collective community responsibility to make the town vibrant and inviting, she said. ‘‘It’s not just up to the BBA.’’

This year the BBA was running a ‘‘message in a bauble’’ Christmas fundraiser.

BBA co-ordinator Caroline Stone said schools usually decorated the Christmas trees made out of wine barrels in the central business district, but this year they were trying something different as well as trying to raise some money.

Stone said people could purchase baubles to decorate the trees from Paper Plus, the BBA office on Market St, the Wine Station or Helloworld for a gold coin donation.

‘‘Fill it with a little message, a drawing, a trinket or anything . . . it’s kind of like a little wishing tree, or a memory tree,’’ Stone said.

The Christmas trees waiting for decorations were on Bythell Place and outside the BBA office at the top of Market St.

Proceeds from the sale of baubles would go to support community kitchen John’s Kitchen.