He’s been labelled as the ‘Grinch’ who stole a young Sydney girl’s Christmas but it seems that not unlike his Dr. Seuss namesake, a drunken reindeer thief has had a change of heart.
Last week, nine-year-old Chiara Velardi woke up to find two cherished reindeer ornaments had disappeared from the lawn of her family’s Middleton Grange home.

Footage from a security camera showed two merrymakers attempting to bundle the glowing animals into a parked car in the middle of the previous night.
Tragically, one the animals was irreparably damaged in the heist.
“You shouldn’t do that anymore and you should say sorry to my dad and my mum and me,” Chiara told 7 News on Friday.
Two friends of the thief happened to catch the nightly bulletin and the following evening came knocking on the Velardi's front door, armed with a handwritten apology on his behalf.

Top Comments
I'm glad he apologised and tried to make amends, but I hope he realises that drunkenness is no excuse for theft and vandalism. Unless he was held down and forcibly injected with alcohol, he is unequivocally responsible for the series of poor choices that led to him breaking the law!
We have had Christmas light theft from our front yard as well! Our poor son was devastated. It's sad for the children, but hopefully won't keep happening. We'll keep putting our lights up!