Grinch-like vandalism could delay Alberta town's winter holiday kickoff

A view of the winter village in Sylvan Lake, Alta., is seen in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Town of Sylvan Lake, One Wolf Creative, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

An Alberta town's unofficial kickoff to the holiday season could be delayed by suspected Grinch-like vandalism.

Officials from the Town of Sylvan Lake, roughly 160 kilometres south of Edmonton, have said more than 11 sets of Christmas tree lights at its winter village have been snipped or torn down over the last few weeks.

In an interview Wednesday, town spokesman Jared Waldo said staff started noticing near the end of October that wires had been cut or ripped apart. Before long, they realized some lights were completely missing.

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"Over the last several days, we've just noticed that it's been picking up more and more," he said.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said officers have been made aware of alleged vandalism at the site and have opened a mischief investigation.

There are no suspects, but Savinkoff says tipsters are asked to come forward.

Waldo said the town always sees some damage to outdoor attractions, but it's often accidental or caused by nature.

"When you see wires being snipped, that's not an accident. That's intentional," he said. "It impacts everybody."

Waldo said Sylvan Lake has been putting on a winter village along the beachfront and pier as part of its "Light Up The Lake" event since 2017. Preparing for the holiday display, featuring upwards of 300,000 lights, is quite the undertaking, he said.

Staff usually begin setting up in September. Over the last few days, he said the town has paid more than $1,500 to replace lights.

The money used to pay for the holiday display primarily comes from donations, so constantly buying new lights and then paying staff to install them strains an already tight budget, Waldo said.

"It's not like it used to be where you could just unscrew one light bulb and put one back in," he said. "Now, so many are designed where if it's one bulb (burnt), you've got to replace an entire line."

He also said it could create a supply issue for residents running out to buy their Christmas lights.

"As this continues to happen, you start incurring costs that are not accounted for, and that's got to come from somewhere else."

Waldo said the town of roughly 16,000 people plans to replace the lights and repair what's already installed ahead of the winter village's "unofficial kickoff to the holiday season" on Dec. 7.

"Families are out there with the young kids … and it's just been such a great way to bring people together in our community," he said.

"It's not something that I want to see ever take a backwards step due to things like petty vandalism."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.