So much for getting into the holiday spirit.
An Oregon couple said they were shocked to discover that a couple of Grinches had taken a knife to the inflatable Black Santa Claus they had installed on their front lawn just 24 hours earlier.
Fritz and Belinda Richard’s home is decorated with images of Black Santas, Three Wise Men and a nativity scene, local station KOIN6 reported. On Wednesday, the couple, who’ve lived in Bethany, Ore., for the last 20 years, decided to add an extra touch by installing the 8-foot-tall inflatable Santa in their yard.
Fritz Richrad said he believes the attack was racially motivated because his neighbors’ Caucasian Santas were left untouched. (Image courtesy of Fritz Richard / Facebook)
Fritz Richard admitted he was a bit nervous about putting up the Black Santa but said he didn’t think it’d be that big a deal. Someone thought otherwise.
Richard told the station he woke up the next morning to find the Santa slashed and deflated on his front lawn. It had been punctured several times.
“Looks like someone had a problem with our black Santa,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “I found him this morning, someone took a knife to him. [Donald] Trump is really changing this country! Is this how you make America ‘great again’, with hate crimes?”
Richard said he felt the attack was racially-motivated, noting that his neighbors had holiday decorations and Caucasian Santas that went untouched by the vandals.
In a show of solidarity, Richard said several of their neighbors have said they’ll also buy Black Santas to display in their front yards. The couple has since purchased a replacement Santa of their own.
“It’s exactly the opposite result I think they were looking for,” Richard said of the folks who vandalized their inflatable Santa. “There will be hopefully a lot of black Santas around this neighborhood.”
It’s unclear if police are investigating the incident.
Watch more in the clip below.
