Video: Woman steals Christmas decorations

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - After Thanksgiving, John Duffy's wife spent two days decorating the front of their Island Park, New York, home with garlands, bows and other holiday knick-knacks. But the centerpieces of the Duffy family display were peppermint lollipop sticks lined the front walk, nine on a side.

Satisfied with her work, John's wife posted a photo of their twinkling home to Facebook. When the Duffys awoke the next morning, those light-up peppermint lollipop sticks had disappeared.

John saw video of the thief thanks to the family's home surveillance system installed over the summer to scare off vandals tagging cars on the block. The thief was a woman.

Just last weekend, two people stole an inflatable penguin from a home in Massapequa. And three -- maybe-different? -- thieves stole $1,000 of decorations from this display in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

A quick YouTube search for "stealing Christmas lights" yields dozens of results.

Anytime anyone in the news does anything negative during the holidays, we label that person a "Grinch." But in this case, the actual Grinch committed this exact crime.

John posted his surveillance video to Facebook, and a TV station played it on the news. Within 24 hours, someone who recognized both the lollipop snatcher and her car called John. He drove by the woman's house and saw his Christmas items on the lawn. So he called the police. Officers arrested Tina Fischer, 31. She lived within blocks of the display she ransacked.

And just like that, the Duffys' peppermint lollipop sticks returned home. Not every stolen Christmas decoration is so lucky.