Kidnapped in Canada: One lawn Santa. Thieves demand canned goods for food bank.
Mr. Grinch seem to be in cahoots with the local food bank. You do have to admit, though, that petty theft IS a novel way to solicit donations.
TORONTO, Canada (Reuters) -- Canadian thieves calling themselves Grinch Enterprises kidnapped a Santa Claus figure off an Ontario family's front lawn and are holding the jolly icon for ransom, the owner said Wednesday.
The group -- who have struck at the same family home before and demanded a similar ransom -- want the owners to collect canned goods for a food bank in return for getting their plywood Santa back before Christmas Day, Evelyn Hussey said.
"My reindeers are still there but Santa Claus is gone," Hussey said by telephone from Sarnia, an industrial city about 185 miles southwest of Toronto.
Hussey said she took down the first ransom note for the four-foot tall Santa only to find another one on the lawn. After removing that one, she got an anonymous telephone call ordering her to leave the notes alone. The notes contain instructions and include photographs of the missing Santa.
Hussey said she plans to ask local schools to help collect about 700 cans of food. "I want my Santa back because it looks ugly outside without him. I just want him back."
You'd think that they'd just knock on her door and ask for a donation....
