MEMBERS of Wokingham Business Association (WBA) are furious at the latest attempt to dampen the town’s Christmas spirit.
Colin George, of WBA, said he is devastated after Strange the Jewellers was a victim of vandalism earlier this week — and he hopes the “mindless thugs” responsible will be made known.
On Monday, the power leads lighting up the store’s display on Bush Walk, including its famous Nutcrackers, were damaged.
Now, the shop is going without its annual festive light and sound display this year.
In a statement on Facebook, the store’s owners said: “We are really sad to say that unfortunately our Nutcrackers will no longer be lighting up Bush Walk or playing music this Christmas after somebody broke in this morning and vandalised all the power leads to all of our decorations.”
And Mr George says it will no longer feel like Christmas in Wokingham town centre.
“Those decorations are a feature of the town,” he said. “You knew that if you walked by they would be there with the music.
“It really lifted your spirits and it made it feel like Christmas.
“There was some real intent there to ensure that the vandalism caused permanent damage, since those responsible will have climbed over the gates at the end of Bush Walk.”
According to Mr George, members of WBA are heartbroken to see Strange the Jewellers targeted in this way after the struggles it faced this year.
“The jewellers has been shut down due to the coronavirus restrictions before, because it counted as a nonessential supplier,” he explained.
“They’ve done as much as they can by selling online, but they’ve taken a massive hit to their income.
“Then, for somebody to do this and force them to pay out to fix everything is disgusting and whoever is responsible should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.”
Mr George fears that the latest incident will make others wary of putting up their own decorations and it threatens to ruin Christmas in Wokingham for years to come.
“As the Business Association, we’ve spent time encouraging people to try and brighten up the streets with festive lights,” he explained.
“But people will be shy of doing these things in the future because they’ll think they’re going to get vandalised.”
He says this type of attack could be “detrimental” to the town’s festive spirit, especially following on from previous attacks on Wokingham’s Christmas tree in the last two years.
Despite Mr George’s fears, the owners of Strange the Jewellers haven’t let the incident ruin their future Christmas plans, and are looking into replacing the vandalised leads.
“We won’t be put off by this as we know how much people love the decorations,” the company said online.
The incident has been met with an outpouring of public support.
“You can see the strength of feeling everybody has by taking a look on social media,” Mr George says.
He is now encouraging residents to head down to Strange the Jewellers and buy some Christmas gifts to offer their support.
“Put some money back in the trader’s pocket so they can buffer against this sort of thing,” he said.
