People in Washington have been broken-hearted over the past several days driving past the town's 32-foot Douglas fir on the banks of the Shepaug River because vandals cut it down.
"It just made me sick," Washington resident Diane Swanson said, "it just broke my heart."
First selectman Mark Lyon said when he found out, he was angry. "It was a pretty senseless act of destruction."
State police said that on Friday night, a trio of vandals armed with a chainsaw cut down the town's lit Christmas tree.
One juvenile and two adults, John Rynn of New Milford, and Connor Dillon of Bridgewater, have been charged.
"Foolish people do foolish things," Lyon said, "hopefully they learn something from this and they are going to face some consequences."
The tree was located on town property between the Shepaug River and Barbara Bouyea's business. She had decorated the tree and paid for the electricity for the last three years after buying the building next door.
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"I couldn't believe someone would take a chainsaw to our tree," Bouyea said.
When news of the vandalism spread across town, several people stepped up to help out. Some have offered trees, others have offered Bouyea money for the fund to collect donations for a new tree and new decorations.
"Come Thanksgiving, we are going to have an amazing tree. With the generosity and the gifts and the giving and the spirit, I'm going to expect we're going to have a tree bigger than we have now," Bouyea said.
