Last weekend, Palmerton commemorated its sixth annual Christmas in the Park. But less than a week after the celebration, one of the 104 trees adopted this year was vandalized.

The incident took place on Wednesday, Dec. 5 when, according to Detective Kevin Buck of the Palmerton Police, three young kids were caught by borough authorities destroying the ornaments of a fallen tree in the park.

 

Michele O’Neill, who chairs the borough’s annual Christmas in the Park, said that the soft ground the trees are positioned on is causing stands to shift, which led to a split trunk and the fall of one tree earlier this week.

After it was on the ground, O’Neill said, people in the park witnessed the three suspects defacing the tree decorations and “making a really big mess with the ornaments in the area.”

“They aren’t just run of the mill trees,” O’Neill said. “There’s thought, and there’s a lot of time and effort put into them - not to mention money.”

In the six years the borough has put on the tree adoption program, O’Neill said there has never been an incident like the one that took place on Wednesday.

“This is the first time that this type of thing has occurred,” O’Neill said. “I’m thinking that this is a rare thing, and hopefully it won’t happen again.”

As for what happens next, Wednesday’s vandalism isn’t going to put a damper on Palmerton’s celebration.

“We have a new tree that’s being set up, and the family is going to redecorate it,” O’Neill said.

“We’re not going to let it stop us. We’re going to have that park sparkle,” she added.  

As of Friday, Buck said no charges have been filed.

This isn’t the first time Palmerton has faced vandalism in its park downtown. In October, the borough’s bandstand was defaced on two separate occasions, once on Oct. 19, and again on Oct. 26. In both incidences, spindles were kicked out.

“Our beautiful park is not a place for vandalism, and I don’t want it to be vandalized,” Mayor Chris Olivia said during Thursday’s borough council meeting. “Please if you know anybody, if you see anything, call the police and they’ll take care of it.”