Louis van der Tuin of the Groningen City Club was left ‘disgusted’ and ‘saddened’ after unidentified vandals tried to kill Christmas spirit and damaged the city’s beloved tree.
Van der Tuin, who puts up a Nordmann fir on the market square every year, spoke to RTV Noord confirming the lights will no longer operate due to the damage. “It’s too outrageous for words,” he said. “Each string of lights was snapped, more often than not it’s by the bulb so you can’t repair them.”
The tree that stands at the Grote Markt was lit on the night of December 8. The 22-meter high Nordmann was donated by a Haren family.
A longstanding holiday tradition in the city, residents were angered to find the tree in darkness three weeks after it was lit up to welcome the Christmas season.
Van der Tuin says the vandals have caused hundreds of euros in damage. “I don’t understand why someone would do such a thing. It was such a beautiful tree, we were very proud of it.”
Efforts are being made to rewire at least some parts of the tree, but as of Thursday it remained in darkness.
