A mother-of-two from St Neots says she has lost some of her ‘Christmas sparkle’ after her family’s outdoor decorations were stolen on Monday night (December 19).

The Hunts Post: Willow and Ethan with the family Christmas tree before it was stolenWillow and Ethan with the family Christmas tree before it was stolen (Image: Archant)

Alison Hunt, of Chapman Way in Eynesbury, was woken around 10.30pm to the sound of her metal-framed Christmas tree being ripped from the front of her house, before she rushed outside to find it gone.

“My husband had literally just turned the lights off and we heard a noise like something had been knocked over,” she told The Hunts Post.

“I had a feeling and I just knew. They ripped it so hard the lights went round the wall and the pushchair rolled across the door.”

Mrs Hunt, 37, bought the tree on sale last year for about £30, and was helped to put it up by her two young children – Willow, five, and Ethan, two.

“It just felt awful that someone had just taken it,” she said.

“I’ve always wanted a tree on the outside and my children and I would drive round the estate and see the lights and we were so excited to have some. They’ve taken something I’ve wanted for so long and a little bit of my Christmas sparkle.

“My little boy just keeps saying, ‘tree gone’ and Willow says ‘naughty men’ and how they won’t get any presents this year.”

After it was stolen, the tree was recognised by another resident who reportedly saw the thieves in her back garden with it.

She is said to have rung the police before going to Mrs Hunt’s house around 11pm with an officer to report the incident.

Since then, Mrs Hunt says she has taken down the rest of her lights outside her home for fear that these too will be taken.

She added she still doesn’t know who took the tree, but that she hopes it’s been dumped and someone will find it.

“Something seems really wrong about stealing lights, trees and someone’s Christmas decorations,” she said.

“You just don’t do it.”