Vancouver homeowner targeted by Halloween thief

Halloween is just around the corner and decorations are already up at countless homes across the region but one Vancouver resident says thieves have been getting up to “dirty tricks.”

Ted Copeland tells Global News a thief was caught on camera stealing one of his spooky decorations early Friday morning.

The Vancouver resident has been decorating his front yard on Fairmont Street for two decades, and says while it’s only one decoration, it’s the principle of the matter.

“She just came and ripped it out of the ground and walked away with it,” Copeland said.

“I got outside and yelled, ‘What the hell’s going on here?’ I was standing and looking and realized that a whole dragon is gone.”

He began the tradition with his mother when he was young and it grew from there.

“It’s kind of a thing to honour my mum, who used to do all the decorating and stuff when we were kids,” he explained.

“There’s so much not very nice stuff going on in the world. It’s nice to have something where people can come and just make people happy…. That’s what I try and do.”

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The Vancouver Police Department told Global News it does not have an open file on this case.

While Copeland said he is disappointed, the incident won’t stop his 20-year-old tradition.

“Come on, man, you’re stealing happiness from little kids — at Halloween. I mean, honestly, you need to really take a look inside yourself and see what kind of person you truly are.”

He’s asking the thief to come forward and for the inflatable to be returned, with no questions asked.

“When someone gives you lemons … you make lemonade. We got a new decoration we’re going to put up. ”