Manitoban man was highly intoxicated when he stole, then distributed Christmas trees, say police

A dozen homes in Brandon, Manitoba awoke to a brand new Christmas tree on Monday morning.

Police say a man stole a dozen ornamental Christmas trees featured on display at a local grocery store, where he stuffed them into a shopping cart and headed out into a nearby neighbourhood.

The man left the trees at various properties, but not before leaving a trail of “holiday themed” clues behind, which police used to retrieve the trees and arrest the man.

According to police, the suspect was highly intoxicated at the time but believed to be acting in good spirits.

“I believe he was sort of getting rid of them as he went,” said Sgt. Kirby Sararas.

“On the surface, it does look like he was being generous and sharing them with everybody. I don’t know what his intentions were.”

The 33-year-old man has been charged with theft under $5,000.

With files from the Canadian Press.