Family’s pain as Christmas decorations stolen from outside house
CHRISTMAS lights have been stolen from outside a family home in a Gloucestershire village. A string of rope lights was just one of the decorations taken during a night of thieving in Northway, Tewkesbury.
The incident happened at about 5.20pm on December 7 on Lee Road.
Resident Shannon Raggatt said her mother Ellen had been left upset by the theft and added: “It’s so disrespectful, especially after the year everyone’s had.”
Shannon went to take the bins out at about 4.50pm when she spotted two teenage boys by the gates of the house touching the rope lights along the fence.
“Our gate is quite far away but I saw that they were touching the lights,” she said. “I didn’t think anything of it, though, because they ran away when I saw them.”
But about an hour later, Shannon’s mother came into the house upset and told her that the rope lights had gone.
Shannon said: “We went out and we noticed the cable was still in the plug and it had been cut, so my mum went to take the plug and got an electric shock from it.”
The Christmas lights had already been up for two weeks. Shannon said her mother loved decorating the house every year.
“The whole thing has really got to my mum,” she said. “She takes so much time to do the decorations and to make it look nice, and it’s just so horrible to have people do something like that.”
A neighbour, who had CCTV installed, was able to review footage from when the lights had been stolen. Two people appeared to yank the lights off the fence and run up the road with them.
“It must have been the same two people I had seen before,” said Shannon.
“They were just being malicious.” Shannon and her family have reported the theft to the police and have since heard from other residents whose decorations have been stolen.
“Hopefully, something comes of it because my mum is so upset. She’s talking about taking the decorations down and getting rid of it all because she doesn’t want it to happen again.” she said.
“The decorations always make her happy and its a shame to see people ruin it for her.”
A spokeswoman for Gloucestershire Constabulary said in a statement: “At around 7.40pm on Monday December 7 police received a report of Christmas lights being stolen from a house on Lee Road in Tewkesbury.
“The local policing team is continuing its investigation.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact the local policing team, quoting incident 404 of December 7.”
The whole thing has really got to my mum. She takes so much time to do the decorations and to make it look nice
Shannon Raggatt