A North Pole post office in the Gyurnek family’s front yard in Schaumburg was knocked over by vandals, who also wrecked a hand-built gingerbread house and Santa’s workshop, filled with miniature furniture and decorations. (Credit: CBS)
Reporting Roseanne Tellez
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (CBS) – Vandals tried to ruin the Christmas spirit in Schaumburg by targeting some pretty spectacular front yard displays.
Chopper 2 captured the scene from Santa’s perspective. When he arrives this year, he’ll find toy soldiers and angels strewn across the yard and a miniature North Pole post office knocked over.
CBS 2’s Roseanne Tellez talked with the families that put a lot of hard work into their Christmas displays, only to see them vandalized.
The Gyurnek family had put out hand-built miniature buildings, like a gingerbread house and Santa’s workshop, filled with miniature furniture and decorations. The workshop took two weeks to put together, but only a few minutes to wreck.
“They tipped over the post office. … The soldiers were laying out on the road,” homeowner Carolyn Gyurnek said. “They were going to … steal the baby Jesus on me … and knocked down lanterns on the gingerbread house.”
Gyurnek’s front yard display took first place in a Schaumburg decorating contest. She’s proud of the effort her family put in, but baffled by the total disregard of vandals who toppled over buildings and figurines and cut wires early yesterday.
“I just want to know why,” she said.
Her 9-year-old grandson Trever echoed her concern.
“I saw it and I’m like ‘Oh my gosh.’ I was about to faint,” Trever said. “Who would destroy all these awesome things we all did.”
The Gyurneks weren’t the only victims. Just a few blocks away, the Kalish family nearly had their inflatable Santa blown up.
“It’s really a shame. It really is,” Lynn Kalish said.
They found a homemade bottle bomb on the front lawn, expanding and about to blow, so they called police.
“They disarmed it with a bb gun and it exploded all over the place and they took it for evidence,” Kalish said.
Like the Gyurneks, the Kalish family has had vandals strike before, but the smiles and gratitude they get from residents who drive by to admire the lights outweighs the fear of vandals.
“They park their cars. They bring their kids, they walk up and down and they take Christmas pictures,” Kalish said.
Police were investigating both instances of vandalism, but said this kind of thing happens every year. But both the Kalish and Gyurnek family’s displays now have a little something extra: cameras.
