COLONA, Illinois-- Doug Tingley loves to decorate his home for all the holidays. But he says he's upset after what happened to his Christmas display Sunday night.
He says his sons came home from school and rushed to turn on the Christmas lights and inflatables. But one didn't blow up.
"It was daggered," Tingley says. "It was sliced across the front of it."
Someone slashed and spray painted the inflatable of Santa and his reindeer riding in a canoe. Another Santa inflatable and an elf were also spray painted.
"Someone took a knife to it and stabbed it," Doug says. "It's a time of the year that we really enjoy. For someone to try and damper that spirit, it hurts."
He says it was especially hard on his kids. His 8-year-old son Knolyn says he felt "angry and mostly sad" about what happened.
But Doug says they didn't even get the worst of it.
"Realized it wasn't just an individual attack on us," he says. "It was an attack on the community. There were several other houses, vehicles spray painted. Car tires sliced, as well as other Christmas displays."
Doug says he filed a police report and is hoping they can catch the Grinch of Grinches.
For now, Doug has zip tied the hole closed in his inflatable.
"This is a temporary fix to just basically get us through the season," he says.
But a Scrooge can't take away what this display is all about.
"This is something that started as a tradition I did with my dad," Doug says. "It's the small thing that you can get in the holiday spirit really without giving."