LA MESA, Calif. - A La Mesa family is not letting vandals who ruined their Christmas decorations steal their holiday spirit.
On 71st Street in La Mesa, there are many homes decorated for the holidays. Resident Dee Peña wonders why vandals targeted her house.
"I was really heartbroken," said Peña, who spent hours decorating her home for the holidays.
"Whatever it is, we love to celebrate. I decorate my window for every occasion," said Peña. "Neighbors come by. They see it, they're happy, they smile. I love that."
She woke up Wednesday morning and was upset to find that someone vandalized the decorations in her front yard.
"Our sled and our reindeer were knocked over. My little boxes were thrown all around here like if they kicked them," said Peña. "The snow was all thrown. You can see all the grass on it. My house is lit; this didn't deter them."
The vandals were bold, but Peña said heartless and disrespectful describe them best.
"It just bothers me because this was a Christmas present, last year, from my kids," said Peña.
A lot of her neighbors have also gotten into the holiday spirit, but vandals only targeted Peña's decorations.
"I'm thinking it was all lit up and they thought it was funny. Let's just kick the reindeer and Santa Claus down," Peña told 10News.
Peña had her daughter alert their neighbors on social media, and the family learned vandals are not just targeting La Mesa. Over the past two weeks, people in Point Loma and Carlsbad have posted that someone has been stealing holiday lights in their neighborhoods.
"I feel sad for them. They have to make everybody else miserable," added Peña.
But she didn't let vandals get her down for long.
"My son came over. We put it all back together. Luckily, we could fix it," said Peña.
Now, they'll have to dip into their budget for Christmas gifts and instead buy an alarm.
"My son's going to bring over some security alarms that we're going to put in each tree," said Peña. "So when they come to vandalize again, the alarms will go off."
