It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Sebastopol Hardware over the last few weeks: their annual Christmas tent was up and filled with holiday ornaments and decorations, and the traditional nativity scene was up in front of the tent along Hwy. 116 along with eight towering Christmas inflatables.

Then a grinch arrived early Sunday morning, October 30, at around 4:45 am and attempted to take it all down – tent and all. He (if it was a he) spraypainted the anarchy symbol and upside-down pentacles on the inflatables, spray painted the crèche figures, then slashed the inflatables and even cut the tent ropes - perhaps in an attempt to bring the whole structure down.

It didn’t work – the tent remained standing, but the Christmas display in front was in tatters when employees found it a few hours later.

“Fortunately, the paint on the nativity scene figures was still wet and they were able to scrub that off,” Sebastopol Hardware co-owner Dan Allingham said.

The eight brightly colored Christmas inflatables - some 12-feet high - weren’t so lucky. Allingham estimated the damage to the inflatables at around $1,300.

The miscreant who caused all this havoc was caught on video camera – a tall figure walking up from the direction of Covert Lane – and police are currently examining footage from various cameras in the area to see if any of them caught his (or her) face.

Allingham said that Sebastopol Hardware has had a big Christmas display in front of their holiday tent for several years, but that this is the first time it’s been vandalized.

“Most people love our holiday tent,” Allingham said. “People come from all over to shop here.”

That’s not to say there haven’t been a few complaints about the tent over the years — especially from people who felt that it kicked off the Christmas season too early (the tent was erected in September).

Allingham says that it takes that long to get the elaborate displays inside set up.

“Christmas starts early in the retail world,” he said. “If we waited ‘til December to put the tent up we wouldn’t be ready to open ‘til after Christmas was over.”

He said he’s also gotten a few complaints about the store’s Christian nativity scene along Hwy. 116 by people who wanted to see other religions represented as well. He notes that inside the tent, they sell holiday decorations of all sorts, including things for Hannukah and Kwanzaa.

While Allingham seemed disappointed by the recent vandalism, he remained upbeat.

“Our whole thing is, we're not going to let this deter our spirit,” he said.

He said the store would be putting up new decorations this week.