Grinch steals 50-plus Christmas trees from lot

[Hum]

PENSACOLA, FL ?  A local Christmas tree seller is asking for the community?s help to return more than 50 Fraser firs that were stolen from her lot in front of the Tate High baseball field Tuesday night.

Suzanne Eaton, a 55-year-old Pensacola resident, said she lost an estimated $5,000 in tree sales. Her premium trees, which are grown in North Carolina, sell for as much as $120. A portion of her proceeds every year go to the Tate High School baseball team.

Eaton said she received a shipment of 300 trees Monday. When she arrived to work Wednesday morning, she found a trail of drag marks leading from where the missing Fraser firs had been.

Eaton reported the crime to the Escambia County Sheriff?s Office on Wednesday morning, and now she?s asking tree buyers to be on the lookout for a signature mark on her stolen trees. On the bottom of each tree?s trunk is a dime-sized hole, drilled for the purpose of setting the decoration in a tree stand.

?If you?re not selling a tree in a lot like mine, it?s not going to have a hole in the bottom,? Eaton said. ?If someone comes to your door trying to sell you a tree, he probably didn?t buy it from a grower.?

She also said that her trees ranged in height from 5 feet to 12 feet.

 

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[Growled Member]

Have they looked on the top of Mount Crumpet?

[Hum]

I wish they'd stop pushing Xmas stuff until December.

[COKid]

I wish they'd stop pushing Xmas stuff until December.

 

The number of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas are fewer this year. Christmas is only 3 1/2 weeks away. If I ran a tree lot, I'd be darned sure to maximize those days. By the way, a fresh tree will last for several weeks if taken care of properly. And the smell is awesome!  :santa:

[thomastmc]

I'm a total Clark Griswold when it comes to the tree. I'd rather just go out into a field and cut one down than pay for one. I know it's wrong, but I'd buy a tree from a guy who came to my door if it was decent and cheap.