‘Santa Claus has been decapitated’: Security footage shows vandals attacking Christmas display

The black and white video shows a group of what appears to be young teens violently smashing a Christmas display on the lawn of Kevin Gaudet’s home.

Gaudet is a former director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“My daughter is upset, my wife is upset, our home has been violated in our minds and we’re bothered by it,” he told Global News.

“[They] aggressively slaughtered our Santa and stomped on our reindeer. Santa Claus has been decapitated.”

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WATCH: Homeowner says this is the fourth time the vandals have targeted his home since August. Marianne Dimain reports.

1:51 Surveillance video captures group of vandals destroy Christmas decorations outside Toronto home

It happened early Saturday morning. Gaudet and his family were returning home from an event and their neighbours informed them of what had happened.

Gaudet broke the bad news to their young daughter, who had helped design the display, during the car ride back so that she wouldn’t be shocked upon arrival.

“The penguins and penguin slide were her choice,” he said.

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When the family arrive at their home near Woodbine and Kingston Rd. they were pleasantly surprised to see some of their display still standing.

“Our neighbours came out and shared with us that they had gone to the trouble of fixing up our decorations, in particular for our little daughter’s sake so she would be less devastated when she got home,” said Gaudet.

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“This is terrible,” said Brian Mercer, one of the neighbours who helped clean up the mess.

“It’s the kids, they are the ones that are really getting hurt here. It’s pretty rotten that that’s who [the vandals] are hurting.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's the kids, they are the ones that are really getting hurt here. It's pretty rotten that that's who [the vandals] are hurting."

Gaudet says he believes he knows who the young men in the video are. His home has been targeted in the past and he has filed two police reports.

“We really just wanted to get the word out and get it to stop,” he said.

Armando Ramos, another neighbour nearby, added “this is not the characteristic of this community. This community is very family oriented and we take care of each other.”