The Grinches stealing Christmas: How Britain is within the grip of a festive crimewave by thieving scumbags focusing on charity donations and shows

With dark nights and expensive gifts left wrapped under trees, Christmas has always been a perfect time for criminals to strike and this year has sadly been no exception. 

Britain is in the grips of a festive crimewave, with communities and businesses all over the country suffering at the hands of shameless vandals and thieves. 

Ornamental statues have been pilfered, charity donation boxes raided and a 10-year-old Christmas tree axed in scenes reminiscent of the infamous Sycamore Gap felling. 

The depressing crimewave comes at a time police forces across the country are traditionally most stretched, leading critics to claim Labour’s handling of law and order has effectively made certain crimes legal in 2025. 

This week, a report called for the Metropolitan Police to be put back into ‘special measures’ due to their failure to tackle runaway rates of mobile phone thefts, burglary and shoplifting. 

Meanwhile, the British public’s confidence in the police as a whole tells a similar story. 

Just 49 per cent of 32,000 people interviewed for the Crime Survey for England and Wales described their local police as doing a ‘good or excellent job’ in the year to March 2025 – a figure down 13 percentage points from a decade ago. 

And amidst this chaos, thieves, vandals and thugs have been allowed to roam free. 

The latest victims of callous and distinctly unfestive behaviour are the residents of Shotton Colliery, near Durham, where vandals felled their community Christmas tree.

The much-loved green spruce was shipped 1,000 miles from Iceland and planted in the centre of the village a decade ago at the cost of £1,800. 

But at around 11.20pm on Wednesday night, ‘mindless’ yobs chopped down the tree to the devastation of residents.

Locals have now claimed it was the work of ‘feral children’ and are planning to bolt the trunk upright ahead of Christmas Day. 

A campaign has also been launched to raise money to replace the spruce but there are fears it may be felled again. 

Locals drew comparisons to the chopping down of the Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian’s Wall in 2023, but claim the culprits are ‘too thick’ to have even heard of that incident, which caused national uproar.

Stephen Maitland, chairman of Shotton Colliery residents association, was at the scene on Friday morning along with CID from Durham Constabulary.

He said: ‘The Christmas tree’s lights were turned on at about 5pm, and 80 to 100 people turned up to watch.

‘Hours later, this has happened. Whoever has done it feels they can get away with it, but hopefully they will be caught. The residents in this village have never known anything like it.

‘There is a big problem with anti-social behaviour here, and recently a dispersal order was issued because kids had been chucking mud at cars. We have had cars burnt out.

‘It’s just mindless vandalism. I am ten out of ten angry about it. I am absolutely fuming and disgusted.’ 

And in other Christmas-themed corners of the country, similar incidents have emerged. 

Nutcracker statues, which can be worth hundreds or even thousands of pounds, have become a particular target.  

In Edinburgh last month, a ‘Grinch’ on an e-bike was caught on CCTV making off with a £900 figurine belonging to a cocktail bar. 

The Nutcracker was stolen from outside Copper Blossom on George Street in the city centre on November 25.

CCTV footage showed the hooded man picking up the 8ft statue and almost falling off his bike while doing so, breaking one of the bar’s £350 tables in the process.

And as he cycled off with the stolen soldier, he could be seen bashing into a bollard and nearly falling off his bike again.  

Meanwhile in Lincolnshire, another yob stole a 6ft Santa from a pub before fleeing in a taxi.

The brazen thief took the cardboard Father Christmas from inside The Blue Pig Inn in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

CCTV showed the crook carrying the festive decoration under his arm as he strolled through the beer garden at 8pm on December 6. 

A second camera captured him laughing as he stuffed the life-sized model into a waiting taxi before being driven away.

Managers posted footage of the ‘Grinch’ on Facebook as they demanded the thief either return the Santa or pay £30 for a replacement.

The pub said: ‘Here is Santa being manhandled out of the back gate on his way to one of the local hotels.

‘He’s still missing. Who is this kidnapper? Does anyone know him?’

And in Stevenage, Hertfordshire two men were caught on CCTV stealing a large penguin statue from outside a Prezzo restaurant. 

Fortunately the decoration, fondly named ‘Percy’, was returned after the restaurant offered a £5,000 reward. 

The 5ft ornament, that was loaded into a van and driven away, was spotted in a garden and carried back by officers from Hertfordshire Police.

Staff were said to be ‘over the moon’ at the news of Percy’s safe return. 

Charity collection boxes have been a target during the Christmas crimewave.

In Buckinghamshire, a brazen crimimal was caught on CCTV swiping a donation tin from a pub while staff had their backs turned.

Footage showed him standing at the bar, appearing to be waiting to be served.

And while unsuspecting workers chatted to other customers, the man grabbed the charity tin and hid it under his jacket. 

The incident happened at The Queen’s Head, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, on December 9.

Disgusted staff issued a public statement condemning the theft and described the culprit as ‘as low as it gets’.

They wrote: ‘Someone has stolen a charity box from our premises today. Let’s be absolutely clear – this money was not ours.

‘It was being raised to help others, and taking it is disgraceful. CCTV is in place and is being reviewed. This matter will be passed on.

‘We rely on our community to stand together and protect what’s right. Stealing from charity is as low as it gets. Let’s get this sorted.’ 

And it’s not only businesses who have been impacted, last month a self-described ‘Christmas-obsessed’ couple were left devastated after a giant nutcracker soldier was stolen from their garden.

Doug and Liz Pecarski had kept two £2,500 figurines at their home in Spaldwick, outside Huntingdon, for three years.

But they were left ‘befuddled’ when one of the models was untethered and carried away over the fence into a car at the end of last month. 

The 10-foot nutcrackers – giant German soldiers from folklore – had spread festive joy each year as villagers posed up with them.

Mr Pecarski, 51, said: ‘Because of its size and weight, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

‘It makes no sense that you’d steal it. Maybe someone was sick of being on the good list and wanted to be on the naughty with a lump of coal.’

Another callous thief took hundreds of pounds from a wishing well a father had set up in memory of his son who died aged five from a brain tumour.

Tristan Cork has put on a ‘winter wonderland’ display in his village with the help of neighbours and local businesses for the past five years to attract visitors, who drop cash into the well.

The proceeds go towards Finnbar’s Force, a charity supporting families facing childhood cancer which he set up in 2017 and named after his son.

But a volunteer forgot to collect the money from the well earlier this week, allowing an ‘opportunist’ to prise open a protective metal mesh over the top and take all the cash inside.

Someone with inside knowledge is suspected to be responsible, as they managed to avoid being caught on a motion-activated CCTV camera that is pointed at the spot.

Dismayed Mr Cork, 43, said: ‘That money has been taken from families who are going through a really tough time and from the pot of money that we have to put on this lights display.

‘Someone’s had to go to quite a bit of effort to get this off and steal the money from it, which is really disappointing.’

And this week staff at a historic pub in the Lake District were left ‘heartbroken’ after their beloved badger mascot was stolen during their Christmas party. 

Bertie Badger had been a popular feature at the Badger Bar in Rydal, Cumbria, for more than half a century.

However, the black and white striped brock was nicked while accompanying bar staff on a Christmas meal at a neighbouring watering hole, the White Lion Hotel, in Ambleside.

The much-loved mascot who has been described as the ‘pride’ of the boozer was taken during the staff Christmas dinner at around 10pm on Monday, December 8.

Paul Knowles, Badger Bar owner, said staff had taken him with them and dressed with in tinsel and a Santa hat before placing him at the head of the table.

But when they left for a couple of minutes to take part in karaoke, they returned to find Bertie missing.

Staff then reported that he was taken to Cumbria police who have since opened an investigation to find him.

CCTV footage from the White Lion shows the culprit carrying Bertie out of the building – it has since been shared with police.

Following his disappearance, Paul said: ‘He has been a fixture in the pub for the past 50 years.

‘Everyone loved him, taking pictures or patting him on his head.

‘We were all shocked when he went missing – we couldn’t believe anybody would do such a thing.

‘Someone who has had a couple of drinks has thought it a good idea to take him.

‘Hopefully he is on someone’s sofa safe and sound and the person is just confused for how he he ended up with a badger.’