An East Midlands suburb may have to scrap its Christmas decorations after they were “repeatedly” vandalised.
Chaddesden in Derby may not see its festive lights return this year after the organisers were left out of pocket.
Councillor John Wright said that the lights on a local Christmas tree were vandalised only two days after the switch-on event.
The Conservative councillor for the Chaddesden East ward told Derbyshire Live that this was not the first year this had happened, and each time, replacement lights had cost the council around £800.
He said: “It’s a cherished local event, one of the few times a year where you see everyone come together, from local traders to taxi companies.
“Almost every year, the lights are vandalised, and the cables and lights cost hundreds of pounds to replace.
“As a council, we only have a modest budget to help fund things like this; money out of the same pot also goes to providing Christmas trees in schools or helping community centres, and £800 to £1,000 to replace the lights is a big chunk of this budget.”
While he explained Derby Council had proposed different things to protect the lights, he said the tree sits in the park and is reused each year therefore there is no option to move it to an area with CCTV.
The Chaddesden Christmas tree may not return
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Chaddesden’s Traders Association alongside local councillors said they were willing for the event to continue in 2026, however admitted this could mean some other local projects may not receive funding.
A spokesman said: “We are getting together next week with other people involved in setting up the event to gather their feedback and reflect on what the community has said.
“Generally, people are supportive of continuing the event, but we will have to see if it will have to be held in a different format or location.
“We recognise this is important to the people in Chaddesden, we have always attended and put the lights up, so I hope we can find an outcome everyone is happy with.”
Councillor John Wright said that he recognised the importance of the event to the local community.
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The local Conservative group said: “The tree on the park has been there for around 20 years. To buy a tree of that size each year would cost a fortune.
“We appreciate the idea of a tree on the Nottingham Road entrance to the park, but there isn’t CCTV there either.
“The CCTV should have been on and working for Christmas (that’s why we carried on this year) only to find out after the tree had the lights installed that it wasn’t working.
“We have insisted that the CCTV is fully operational by the end of this month which we hope, will protect the park from the mindless idiots.
One resident said on Facebook: “Such a shame that idiots spoil it for the community, [they should] have it near the shops and have it has a memory tree for the locals to place something on for a loved one”
Another added: “[It] needs to be where more people can see it during the day and at night without having to go down the park to see the pretty lights.”
A third user wrote: “I agree with others…don’t let ‘them’ win.”
Derbyshire Police are now investigating the incident as criminal damage, with officers carrying out enquiries into what happened.
The decorations were retrieved from the water by concerned locals | Chaddesden East Conservative Team
The most recent incident of vandalism took place between 4pm on Tuesday, December 9 and 10.15am on December 10.
Another tree was also damaged during the spree, and a bench was daubed with graffiti.
Ndukwe Onuoha, Derby City Council’s cabinet member for streetpride, parks and leisure, described the authority as “disappointed and saddened” by what occurred.
“This mindless vandalism is a disheartening attack on the community and undermines the hard work of everyone involved,” he said.
Anyone with information should contact Derbyshire Constabulary quoting incident number 25*722691.