NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Two vandals in vehicles repeatedly ran over an elaborate Christmas lights display in South Nashville— ruining it.
In the yard there are smashed snowflakes, a cracked holiday yoda, and a bent north pole with penguins.
On Dec. 17 at 3 a.m., Traci Kimble caught the crime on her ring camera on Creekside Drive.
On Sunday at 3a.m. two drivers ruined an elaborate Christmas lights display by driving back and forth through a yard. Now police are trying to catch a grinch who stole Christmas… story on @nc5 pic.twitter.com/kR6DuSEWN1
— Alexandra Koehn (@NC5_AKoehn) December 20, 2023
“Mad, upset, I don’t understand why they would do something like that, it’s very disheartening,” Kimble said.
Traci said they've been adding onto their decor collection for 25 years.
“Because we’ve done it for so long, it’s something we like to do, we like to try to bring joy to people and to think that somebody would just do something like that, I don ‘t even know how to describe it," Kimble said.
Some of the Star Wars items they collected are irreplaceable.
"It’s very sentimental especially knowing some of these things we can’t get back," Kimble said.
They estimate there's $2,000 worth of damage here.
"We filed a police report, but they think that the vehicles may be stolen," Kimble said, "Those green trees are like a very heavy metal, and I would think if they hit them with the cars there would be damage."
At night, the display was a popular spot for neighbors to snap a photo.
“School buses would come by, and they’d drop kids off, they would stop and let the kids take pictures out the windows,” Kimble said.
They plan to redesign their yard, since a Grinch stole Christmas.
"We’ll replace whatever we can," Kimble said.
If you know who did it, or recognize the cars, call Metro Police. The vehicles are possibly Ford Mustangs.
There are still so many families in East Tennessee hurting following the floods from Hurricane Helene in September. That made this year's running of the Santa Train extra special for many families in the northeast part of the state. This special Santa Express has been making an annual run in part of Appalachia for over 80 years.
-Lelan Statom
