By Tim Binnall
A Missouri man may be spending the remainder of the holiday season behind bars after cops busted him for allegedly carving a jaw-dropping path of destruction through a community's Christmas display. According to a local media report, the unfortunate incident occurred last week in the town of House Springs where a rather sizeable number of festive decorations had recently been installed at a preservation area by resident Danny Tuggle. "It was beautiful. I was so proud that it had come to life," he recalled. However, when he visited the site on Wednesday morning, he was heartbroken to discover that all of his hard work had been undone by a miscreant who undoubtedly earned a prominent place on Santa's naughty list this year.
Police in Hope Springs say that the proverbial Grinch slashed a staggering six inflatable decorations, tore down all of the Christmas lights, and threw reindeer and candy cane displays into a pond on the property. Tuggle also noted that the individual behind the mind-boggling mayhem even went so far as to tear down the American flag and replace it with a bandana, which led the disheartened creator of the holiday display to mournfully muse "that's a sick person." He went on to lament to an area newspaper that "this is not a normal thing to do. This is hate” and declared that the perpetrator of the crime "probably needs help."
Fortunately, it did not take long for cops to track down a suspect in the case as they reportedly arrested local resident Lucas Clayton this past Sunday and charged him with felony first-degree property damage. Currently being held on a $10,000 bond, the accused vandal could face up to four years in prison if convicted of the crime. Meanwhile, the community of Hope Springs has come together in response to the shocking incident as Tuggle later told a local TV station that he has received a slew of donated decorations from residents hoping to help rebuild the holiday display in time for Christmas.