Montrose’s Christmas tree will not be lit this year after vandals snapped wiring for the lights.
The Santa Claus in Montrose group shared a video on their Facebook page on Sunday morning confirming the lights will no longer operate due to the damage.
Police Scotland has issued an appeal for information about the vandalism.
Councillor Tommy Stewart runs the group and spoke with The Courier after sharing the post, which has been viewed over 10,000 times.
He said: “I feel awful.
“Since we started doing the lights in Montrose in 2020 it has been constant. We’ve had damage every single year. It has cost us hundreds of pounds.
“Each string of lights is 10 metres long and when they are snapped, more often than not it’s by the bulb so you can’t repair them.
“It costs £30 a string, we’ve already repaired six strings this year and we have no more left. When we bought the strings it cost us nearly £2,500 and we bought extra to cover any failures.”
Discussing security measures, Mr Stewart said: “The town’s CCTV has not picked anything up over the last three years. We were given assurances last year that one camera can be fixed permanently on the Christmas tree and it didn’t happen.
“When they looked back at the CCTV last year they couldn’t see anything. The line we got was that the camera wasn’t working.
“I have been told by police that a request was put through to have the camera locked on the tree but whether or not it was able to catch any footage I don’t know.”
Dedicated to a member of the community
Mr Stewart revealed this year’s lights were dedicated to a Montrose resident who passed away.
He said: “There was a 34-year-old with learning difficulties that we lost this year.
“She loved everything about Christmas and I would do a Zoom call with her each year dressed up as Santa and every year she would say “I love you, Santa.” It always sticks with me.
“We put an angel on top of the tree this year in her memory and her parents are absolutely distraught that it’s no longer working.”
Repairing the lights ‘not sustainable’
Mr Stewart continued: “The community are so supportive and continue to help with their fundraising efforts.
“When we took over the lights were very poor, a lot didn’t work. In two years we’ve replaced all the lights in Montrose and added more, it has cost us around £30,000.
“The people in the town supported us because they bought into our vision and they are sharing our frustrations. You can see their anger on social media. It’s not sustainable to continue repairing the lights.”
Montrose councillor Iain Gall added: “It’s absolutely shocking.
“The group behind the lights and Christmas tree have and continue to work incredibly hard all year round to put on the amazing lights display in Montrose.
“This vandalism is clearly from a local person which makes this sorry situation even worse and leaves a real stain on what is an amazing display.
“I sincerely hope they are caught. A time of year when there is so many unsettling things happening around the world. Christmas lights give a much needed cheery boost for the spirits and I just find this incredibly sad.”
Police Scotland said they are working closely with the community to tackle the anti-social behaviour.
A spokesperson said: “Over the weekend we received a report of vandalism to the Christmas tree area and Christmas lights in Montrose.
“As with all calls we receive, the incidents were assessed and due to there being no immediate threat to life or risk of harm it was graded appropriately.
“We continue to work closely with our local partners to tackle anti-social behaviour and officers will pay close attention to the area when out on patrol.
“An appointment has been made to see the complainer.”
Conversation