MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) – Every year the entrance to Golf Pointe is decorated in Christmas lights and cheer.

According to John Phillips, the board president of Golf Pointe Condos Association, they added deer that light up in between the palm trees.

Sadly, two of the deer were stolen this week, according to Phillips and Jan Ganz, a resident in the community. Ganz has decorated the entrance for the past six years.

“We have a lot of seasonal residents here. So, the Christmas set up was really the thing that made everybody super excited and helped us turn a page here after the hurricanes,” said Phillips.

On Monday, Ganz said one of the baby deer was missing and then on Wednesday night one of the bigger deer was stolen.

“Somebody’s decorating their yard one deer at a time being removed from Golf Pointe. It’s my explanation, unless you can come up with a better one, but I feel communities should be for-warned that this is happening. It has to be someone with a pickup truck late at night, at 11 o’clock the deer was still standing there last night,” said Ganz.

Ganz said she called law enforcement to see if there is anything that can be done, but she is still waiting to hear back from them. The missing deer has some residents thinking a real-life Grinch has stolen their Christmas.

Phillips said they packed up and put the remaining deer in storage for the rest of the year.

Ganz said the Grinch must be striking late at night with a pickup truck. She said Wednesday night at 11 p.m. she even checked to make sure the rest of the deer were there.

“What a sad state of affairs that people are doing that. If they are that desperate and they are making someone happy with our deer, that’s ok but leave me a note then to then explain that” said Ganz.

The community has left the palm trees decorated and as for next year, Phillips said they will put the deer back out and hope for the best.

Copyright 2024 WWSB. All rights reserved.