At approximately 4am on Sunday morning several Christmas decorations were damaged with the majority occurring to the Bourke and Grey Street roundabout tree. The display, which had only been erected on Thursday, had power cords torn apart and a number of the decorative balls removed. Several of the balls were found in the Rocky Ponds Creek with others found in the ANZAC Park toilets and car parks.

Three people were sighted on the roof of the town hall early Sunday morning but there appears to be no damage to the building.

On Sunday night the wave of vandalism continued when hay bales meant for the Carols in Anzac Park was scattered around and the manger thrown into the creek after the event was washed out.

Carols organiser and Seventh Day Adventist Pastor Keith Jackson said that the damage showed a sheer lack of respect for the meaning behind Christmas.

“We thought that since there was a substantial amount of rain no vandals would be likely to do anything but we found the hay scattered and the manger in the creek. The hay bales were borrowed from my wife’s mother and the manger has a significant connection to the Christmas story. It was really disappointing to see,” he said.

Along with the wet weather, “The issue of vandalism means that we need a more secure location like the showground where it is able to go ahead no matter what,” Mr Jackson said.

Despite the disheartening result of the night Mr Jackson remained positive and said the message of Christmas would live on.

“I think the Christmas story can never be ruined because it’s a reality fixed for all time.”

Sergeant Dave Cooper said that the acts would not be tolerated by police and that special measures are now in place to point a halt to the vandalism.

“We will be investigating right to the finality and are confident we will find who it was. A target action group will be brought in from Armidale focused on malicious damage and from this day on we will be adopting a zero tolerance to all street offences until the offenders are found,” he said.