Grinch pays a visit to Candy Cane Lane

Of all the Christmas tales, Sandra Strangman has a fondness for the Dr. Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

That’s why she put a Grinch and a Cindy Lou Who on her lawn on Candy Cane Lane, a stretch of brightly decorated houses on 148th Street. “Instead of putting a Santa Claus in front of every house, we put a Grinch,” Strangman said. “It’s just having fun with it.”

On Christmas Day, however, Strangman experienced a Grinch-like experience of her own, when she found a plastic severed thumb and a two-page letter full of anti-Christmas rhetoric in her mailbox. The letter talked about “the lie of Santa,” equated Santa with child abuse, and included a doomsday website address.

Strangman said at least three other Candy Cane Lane residents have received similar packages with the same letter and grim Christmas props.

Police were investigating the packages on Monday and took the letter delivered to Strangman as evidence.

Strangman said her neighbours are infuriated by the incidents, but she is not taking her Grinch down.

“This is the epitome of cowardice to me,” she said.