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The Grinch who stole the Christmas flamingo

by Daniel DeBolt

The morning after Christmas, a thief stole more than just a Christmas-themed flamingo from a home on Wright Avenue — he appears to have stolen some Christmas cheer as well.

"It's not so much the cost, it's like, how rude is that?" said Andrei Fenner, who put up the flamingo on his front lawn with his wife and kids, ages 3 and 7. "The kids are saying, 'Why would someone take this from us?'"

It wasn't just any plastic lawn flamingo; it was a motorized one with Christmas lights and a Santa Claus hat. There was even a faux palm tree with Christmas lights to go with it. The uniquely Californian set-up stood apart from the typical snowmen and nativity scenes and neighbors loved it.

"It just became a neighborhood joke because no one else really has this type of thing," Fenner said. "We all really got into decorating like crazy. Everyone in the neighborhood came by to take pictures of it with their kids. We were just glowing about all this."

Police told Fenner that they don't have the resources to look for a flamingo thief, even if the thief's fingerprints were left on a screwdriver used to unscrew the flamingo. Fenner found the screwdriver on the lawn.

And that is a shame, he said. "For the kids who probably did it, it is probably not going to be the last time they are going to do something bad or illegal," Fenner said.

The family hopes that someone reading this knows where the flamingo is and will return it to its home at the corner of Wright and Granada streets. Police can also be tipped about the flamingo's whereabouts at (650) 903-6344.

E-mail Daniel DeBolt at ddebolt@mv-voice.com