Vandals target City Hall Christmas tree

Published Dec 28, 2012 at 8:00 am (Updated Dec 27, 2012 at 10:32 pm)

Cleaning up: Staff tidy up after the Christmas tree outside City Hall was targeted by vandals who damaged festive decorations.
Who did this? The City Hall Christmas tree fell victim to vandalism over the holidays with dozens of ornaments and bulbs destroyed. Corporation staff spent yesterday morning collecting the shattered remains in the area surrounding the tree and roadside. Pictured from left are Hamilton Mayor Graeme Outerbridge, Steven DeSilva and Bill Brooks.
((Photo by Akil Simmons))
Target: The City Hall Christmas tree fell victim to vandalism over the holidays with dozens of ornaments and bulbs destroyed. Corporation staff spent yesterday morning collecting the shattered remains in the area surrounding the tree and roadside.
((Photo by Akil Simmons))

Vandals struck the City Hall Christmas tree over the holidays, destroying dozens of ornaments.

City staff were yesterday left to collect the shattered remnants of decorations surrounding the tree.

Hamilton Mayor Graeme Outerbridge said: “It was surprising. We came in to find bulbs from the tree broken and scattered all over the lawn.

“The tree has always been the focal point of the city’s Christmas decorations. For someone to vandalise it, it was in a way desecrating Christmas.

“The bulbs were plastic, so it looks like someone, maybe inebriated, was hitting them like balls with a bat or something; maybe just stomping on them.”

He estimated the vandals caused “a couple hundred dollars” of damage, but added that the inconvenience and time spent cleaning the mess was the real issue.

The Mayor said he could think of a few people who may have committed the act, but he didn’t want to point fingers at this stage.

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Published Dec 28, 2012 at 8:00 am (Updated Dec 27, 2012 at 10:32 pm)

Vandals target City Hall Christmas tree

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