SPOKANE, Wash. — A ‘Grinch’ made their mark on the South Hill earlier this week, stealing two decorated trees from a holiday-loving resident.
“I decorate the house for the holiday spirit; the neighbors come by, they enjoy the decorations,” said Roger Takigucki, a longtime resident of South Hill. “It lights up the neighborhood, it makes everyone smile. And that’s what the holidays are about.
Takiguchi, along with the neighborhood, have less to smile about now, after a passerby hacked down his live Christmas tree from his front yard, along with snatching the artificial one lighting up his porch.
“The artificial tree is one thing,” said Takiguchi. “But for the living tree that we’ve sort of grown up with to be cut down and hauled off is disheartening and disappointing.”
Takiguchi received this tree as a present from his girlfriend; they planted it together when they first moved to Spokane.
“That tree was a part of the family, it had been here eight, nine years.”
The culprit walked away with a six-foot-tall Colorado Spruce tree. Takiguchi says they’re slow-growing trees; to get a similarly sized replacement, the price tag would be around $800-1,000.
If he could say anything to the person who stole his tree, it would be this: “I guess it brings whoever takes it joy for a couple of weeks, but then you’re gonna throw it away…when it could still be living. And that’s kind of the sad thing. I guess people don’t think about that.”
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