Couple with Christmas spirit replace stolen tree

LYNN – Thanks to some timely housekeeping and the generosity of one Danvers couple, a disappointing and puzzling holiday theft turned out to be a blessing in disguise this week for tenants at the Louis Barrett Residence on Washington Street.The joy and hope of the holiday season was ripped from the grasps of residents last week when someone decided to break into the building’s community room and swipe, among other things, an artificial Christmas tree that was just days away from being unpacked and decorated for the season.Losing the tree was a blow to the mostly senior citizen population at the Barrett Residence, who look forward to decorating the community room and celebrating the holiday season under their modest tree each year.”It hurt because this building doesn’t have a lot of money, it was just a simple tree,” said Building Manager Sharon Omand. “It was still in the box, so it looks like someone cut the locks and stole it from the closet. It is just the whole idea, really. Who would steal something like that?”The theft left residents down, but it was not long before their luck turned around thanks in part to an ad on Craigslist.org.As it turns out, Danvers residents Bobby and Karen Fox were cleaning out their home for the holidays and were looking to get rid of their tree, a larger, much more expensive artificial tree. In meeting with Omand, the couple agreed to donate the tree to the Barrett Residence community room this week as a replacement.In a matter of days the enthusiastic residents had the new tree up and decorated, and everyone agrees that the replacement looks much better than the old tree ever did.”I went to work the other night and when I came back a few people had set up the new tree, and it looks better than it did last year,” said resident Gary Lefebvre. “It is much better than the tree we did have.”Omand called police after the initial robbery and says she has a good idea of who may have stolen the tree, and thinks that the person may also be a repeat offender. Police have good surveillance video of the incident and are investigating the robbery.For residents like Lefebvre the whole incident has made one great story to share, a story that he has taken to calling “The Grinch who Stole the Christmas Tree.””The people in the building thought it was a nice story, they are glad to have the new tree,” said Omand. “And they (the Fox family) were happy to do it, too, because they were trying to clean out some things and wanted to get rid of the tree.”