This modern-day Scrooge is bah hum-bugging his neighbors.
Phones at the Brantford Police station in Ontario, Canada, were recently ringing like sleigh bells thanks to a local grump who plastered “Santa is FAKE,” “Your Family Buys Your Presents” signs on the windows of their residence, which is along the route of the community’s annual Santa Claus Parade.
“Your parents are Santa,” reads one of the unidentified homeowner’s handwritten bulletins, meant to dispel the magic of Father Christmas for kids.
The seemingly malicious stunt sent a wave of outrage through the neighborhood, triggering a series of calls to the police, who immediately took action.
“An officer spoke with the individual responsible and the signs have since been removed,” Robin Matthews-Osmond, corporate communications manager for the Brantford Police Service, told CBC News.
“While it isn’t illegal to be a ‘Grinch,’ we do encourage everyone to embrace the spirit of the season and help foster a positive, welcoming community,” she added, “especially during events like the Santa Claus Parade.”
Matthews-Osmond confirmed the signs weren’t illegal because of free speech laws and the fact that they were on private property.
But that didn’t stop miffed moms and dads from publicly bashing the spoilsport’s bad behavior online.
“I get that everyone has the right to put whatever they want in their own window, but this just seems mean-spirited and pointless,” a Facebook administrator for The Canadian Gothic, a true crime podcast, wrote, in part, shaming the Santa cynic.
“I’m not a fan of Christmas… but this?? This is absolutely disgusting,” a commented agreed. “You don’t get to crush someone’s spirit or ruin something for someone else just because you don’t like something.”
“Guess someone had a bad childhood,” tease another.
“I hope that house gets egged with dozens and dozens of eggs, and then it freezes and doesn’t thaw until late spring,” spat an equally irked onlooker.
“There’s no excuse for this,” another chimed.
Surprisingly, however, a handful of anti-Claus crusaders supported the Grinch-like behavior, leaving comments like “So, they told the truth instead of lying like everyone else. How [dare] they?,” and “I can’t believe someone actually called the police about this. People are so incredibly uptight about a stupid joke.”
But to parents worldwide, busting children’s Santa bubble is no laughing matter.
Kelly Bowron, a mother of two, from the UK, previously told The Post that she became furiously “annoyed” with Google AI after the search engine revealed to her 11-year-old son Santa is “a fictional character.”
Natalie, a NYC-based mom of two, echoed similar sentiments upon learning that Google had, too, ruined her 7-year-old daughter’s belief in the big guy.
“Honestly, I felt quite sad about it,” said Natalie, who chose not to provide her last name. “You think, as a parent, that it’s much more in your control about how your kids find out about these things.”
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