Crooks target family's Christmas lawn decorations

(12/08/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- There's a big empty patch in the yard of a local family who say they saw the thieves that stole the centerpiece of their Christmas decorations. The family says they lost more than just a few lights.

On Estelle Street neighbors know the Luna family home for their elaborate decorations. This year they wanted something bigger than ever.

Mike Luna explained, "My mom just said, 'This is the year. Let's go for it.'"

Lights, characters and inflatables covered nearly every inch of the yard, until a Grinch left a gaping hole.

"The carousel was all around here," Luna said. "It was really huge and really tall, about 8 feet tall."

Now the only thing Mike Luna has left of the $150 decoration is an empty box.

He said, "We took almost three days to put all this stuff up and now it just took 20 minutes and it's gone."

Twenty minutes is how long Luna figures it took for two guys on bikes to sneak into their yard and steal part of Christmas.

"It's just like somebody stabbed you in the heart," Luna told Eyewitness News. "My mother was all crying and everything, 'cause she put her heart and everything... Because she put her heart into it and it's hard to see your mother like that."

It's why Luna is back in the yard putting on display the stuff he's got left.

The family says they reported the theft to Houston police. The suspects were last seen in an abandoned home near the Luna's home.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

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