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'Just bring it back,' Broadway Bar owners want stolen decorations returned

Tom Schuitema has been collecting Christmas trinkets since he was four, and he started gracing the Broadway Bar walls with them more than 20 years ago.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - It's been more than 20 years since Tom Schuitema first started decorating what is now the 'North Pole of the west side.'

Schuitema says every year a couple of people make away with some of his token trinkets, but this year there's been eight different toys stolen from the bar.

"I don’t know whats going on," Schuitema said on Thursday, Dec. 13. "I bring these out for everybody to play with - not for people to take home as souvenirs."

It's crushing for the man who has been collecting some of these items since he was a kid.

“My mom and dad got a divorce when I was four years old, and that was like the last real Christmas that I remember, you know?" Schuitema said.

He's been collecting ever since.

"Trying to get that feeling back," he said while looking at the packed full bar. "This does it for me."

Schuitema said he caught the most recent thief, who stole the laughing reindeer, on surveillance camera.

"I won't say anything, just bring it back. That was our favorite this year," he said.

If you know anything about the whereabouts of these stolen items, Schuitema asks that they just be returned.

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Emma Nicolas is a multimedia journalist. Have a news tip or question for Emma? Get in touch by email enicolas@wzzm13.com, Facebook or Twitter.

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