Stolen Christmas Tree a Sign of the Times

One of my favorite holiday cartoons is the original Chuck Jones production of Dr. Seuss's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (YouTube), in which the Grinch steals (among other things) Christmas trees from Whoville.

Life often imitates art, as police departments across the country say the struggling economy has prompted an uptick in theft from commercial tree lots (Fortune). But they're not trying to destroy Christmas and the cut trees are just like any other merchandise.

However, the theft of Carpenter Park's (formerly) living Christmas tree (NBC Chicago), an 8-foot-tall Colorado Blue Spruce planted as part of Carpentersville's 2007 Arbor Day celebration, shows signs of extreme Grinchiness.

All that was left was a sad little stump, reminiscent of another Dr. Seuss classic, "The Lorax."

It wasn't just any tree, but a special one decorated with lights and other trimmings each holiday season since its debut two years ago. Pranksters had taken lights and decorations from the tree in the past, so it was left intentionally bare this year.

Hindsight is 20-20, but perhaps the lights and decorations would have dissuaded thieves, since it would be a dead giveaway if spotted on top of a car. The perpetrator must have been stalking the tree for a while, says Janice Murphy, the city's Economic Development and Special Projects Coordinator:

"Someone has had their eye on that tree for a while. It was targeted. For it to happen right before Christmas, someone had that planned for a while."

Whatever the intent, residents and officials are angry about the incident and likely will put forth serious effort to find the Grinch-like thief.

An Illinois criminal attorney would have a better idea of how the perpetrator of arbor theft would be charged and sentenced, and whether it's a felony or a misdemeanor, but we can assume Carpentersville officials won't cut them any slack.