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'We forgive you': Christmas decorations destroyed in Holland families' yard

Nicole Hutchinson woke up Saturday morning to a yard full of vandalized Christmas decorations, some spray painted, others cut with a knife

HOLLAND, Mich — When it comes to Christmas, Nicole Hutchinson from Holland and her two kids Amiya Hutchinson and Ohdin Copeland take decorating seriously.

With a yard full of lights, candy canes, handmade cutouts and an inflatable Christmas bear, it takes a lot of work to set up the decorations every year.

"It's an annual tradition for our family to take plywood and create what we see on that image," said Nicole.

The decorations were in the family's yard since Nov. 1. 

As of Saturday, Nov. 12, those decorations now reside in the trash because someone vandalized the Hutchinson's entire collection.

"It was really disheartening to gather all of our decorations that we only had out for two weeks," said Nicole.

It wasn't the Grinch who destroyed the decorations. He was spray painted black along with the cartoon characters dog Max and Snoop.

That inflatable Christmas bear? Nicole says that one is gone too after it was cut with a knife multiple times.

 "It was just going to be too expensive of damage," said Nicole.

The mother of two is now frustrated that someone would want to do this to not only her, but her kids as well.

"I was astonished," said Nicole. "I felt like my entire stomach went into the back of my throat, and when I reached out to authorities, I think we were all feeling the same way. The kids were really frantic and heartbroken."

There is a happy ending to the Hutchinson's Christmas story, however.

Thanks to help from friends and neighbors, they picked up some new decorations for their yard, including an inflatable Santa and reindeer.

Now, the family has a message for the vandal or vandals.

"The kids and I have talked, and we definitely agree that the person who decided to do that act against our family, we forgive you," said Nicole.

"I think the lesson is to forgive and not forget," added Nicole's daughter Amiya.

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