Gutless Vandals

[kane]

Some of you may have heard I had gutless vandals come and visit the display less than two hours after "go live" last night.

They completely trashed the mega tree structure, and smashed a couple candy canes and an arch with a golf club, but luckily not too much damage in the end - no controllers, minimal damaged pixels, and just a bunch of dumb strings that will need repairing.

I have had someone offer to cover the cost to get the aluminium structure fixed/rebuilt, which is amazing - hopefully that will only take a couple days and then I can get the tree back up and running on the weekend.

Crazy day today with TV and newspaper interviews (slow news day maybe?), so a bit knackered to re-post the photos, but there are a couple on my facebook page below (as well as the video of the idiots in action)

At the start of today I was pretty upset by the lowest displays of life, but as the day went on I realised that they are really in the minority, and the amazing show of support I have had from friends and complete strangers has been truly breathtaking.

All the best and hope everyone is doing okay!

Kane

 

[David_AVD]

Was saddened to hear of the incident earlier this evening. I hope the vandals are caught and publicly shamed.

Nice to hear of the local support you've received already though.

 

[SmartAlecLights]

When i first herd i thought crap..
then i relised it was you, an it made it even worse.
i hope you get everything going
as your show looks great

 

[Archades]

I hope they catch them. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/20117374/vandals-smash-christmas-lights-display/ is this it?

Where I live we usually get drunks walking past late at night, might need to leave a camera out there but hopefully the dog will go bananas. Hopefully they'll just be happy drunks and move on, usually find a few stubbies in the yard occasionally.

 

[dale82]

If you need any supplies (PigTails etc) PM me and I can send what you need to you, This saddens me to think that all the effort that yourself has put into your display, that some little barstools or as I like to call them "Generation NO RESPECT" could do such an act like that

Chin up mate, Sing out if you need anything

 

[ShellNZ]

Im so sorry to see what you have been through Kane, lil HoHoHoheads. Hope nothing like that happens here, hubby will be running after them with a chainsaw

So very glad to hear you have wonderful people around you to help you out repair everything.

Look forward to seeing it all back up and in action again!!

 

[kane]

I hope they catch them. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/20117374/vandals-smash-christmas-lights-display/ is this it?

Yeah, that's the one. Also made it on to all of 7, 9 and 10 news - although was a bit disappointed that Channel 7 said the tree was only 3metres, when it's double that height!!!

If you need any supplies (PigTails etc) PM me and I can send what you need to you, This saddens me to think that all the effort that yourself has put into your display, that some little barstools or as I like to call them "Generation NO RESPECT" could do such an act like that Chin up mate, Sing out if you need anything

Thanks Dale - I think I'll be fine, but will certainly shout out if there's anything I need..

I'm so relieved that my new star ended up not being damaged at all - that would have been gutting, as that took a long time to build and wouldn't be able to be replaced in time.

 

[logandc99]

So sorry to hear about the vandalism. Saw it on Facebook and was disgusted by the scum attacking your display for no reason. Just can't understand the mentality of such people.
Glad to hear the damage wasn't too bad....on the video it looked pretty nasty.
Nice to hear people nearby offering help. Hope you are back up and running soon.

 

[Callaidyn]

So sorry to hear that Kane We had our display vandalized last year and it is truly heartbreaking. It actually resulted in me turning paranoid with other "visitors" to the display after that - every noise I heard outside turned into a potential vandal. I went out in my pyjamas one night and started yelling like a banshee at a youngish couple (we were vandalized by young P platers) only to find out they were visiting town (from Canada) and wanted a photo in front of the display (I then turned around and saw another couple with the camera about to take their photo) I am paranoid more than ever this year (first year automating and therefore really want it to be a success). To make matters worse in our town we don't have a 24/7 police presence so the young ones know they are very unlikely to get caught.


Good luck with the repairs and for the rest of the festive season. I don't think I have anything that will help you out (being an amateur) but happy to help out if/where I can.

 

[burner]

Sorry to hear what happened Kane. Hope these pr$cks don't come back. At least your video evidence shows the culprit's vehicle. How hard would it be to spot a white late model range rover with a sunroof in your area?

 

[Habbosrus]

Unbelievable. Man, that is disgusting behaviour. I really hope you can get things back together. I don't have much, but if you need anything and I've got it, it's all yours mate. We had a couple of small, stupid incidents with egg throwing recently. I've been a little concerned about them returning and upping the ante. It shows the mentality of some mindless twit's that just want to spoil things for other people.

 

[Kaden]

Seriously, what is wrong with these people?


I am so angry for you Kane, it just dumbfounds me that people do this.

 

[Boof63]

Always a worry for me as no front fence for , hope it all comes together and the karma bus pays them a visit in the future. thinking of you and best wishes for the festive season!!

Cheers Boof63

 

[MarcD]

I'm pretty disgusted by it as well. The thing that confuses me is the getaway vehicle. I'm sure late model Range Rovers are quite common in Perth, but unless it was stolen, this seems to have been planned. I certainly hope it wasn't personal.

I'm paranoid about someone backing a ute into my driveway, loading up the sleigh and disappearing with it. We've chained it to the fence and if they did steal it, they wouldn't get the dashboard as it gets locked in the garage every night. We're pretty close to a number of senior police and state pollies due to our involvement with Neighbourhood Watch, so I pity anyone that does steal it.

 

[buzzdude]

This is just shocking. I know how you feel, myself having woken of a morning many years ago, to find holes in plastic Santa's and elves plus string lights cut up. But don't do what I did and give it away. Keep up the spirit and don't let these little b%&@ards have the satisfaction that they have stopped you.

After a 3 year break... Excuse the pun.... I have started again.

Shane