Northwest Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce President Danny Tuggle is working hard to patch up Santa Claus and his reindeer in time for Christmas after a sudden attack early in the morning on Dec. 13 at the House Springs Preservation Site.
Tuggle said when he stopped by the pond off Hwy. MM near Hwy. 30 at 9 a.m. on Dec. 13, he found the inflatable Christmas decorations torn, reindeer thrown into the water and the American flag ripped from a flagpole.
“All of the decorations were either slashed or thrown in the pond,” Tuggle said. “Three years of work, and a lot of volunteerism, just went up in smoke. All of the construction that we’ve been doing for three years, we really just kind of wrapped it up on Friday (Dec. 8).”
Tuggle estimates the cost of damage to be in the thousands. He said the person responsible for the damage tried to destroy the fountain in the pond but was unsuccessful.
“He tried to destroy the fountain, but he didn’t get it done,” Tuggle said. “He bent all of the wires, but I was able to salvage the fountain.”
The chamber invited the community to a bonfire before the House Springs Lions parade commenced on Dec. 9 to celebrate the holidays and the completion of the pond improvement project. Tuggle said the chamber owns the site and made renovations to the pond to beautify the area and preserve history.
The 0.83-acre preservation site is home to the namesake spring of House Springs. The site includes a sign with information on the area and a short path around the pond.
“It’s a historic place,” Tuggle said. “It’s something that we just thought was good for the community. When they built the Hardee’s and all that stuff there, that was what they used for a retention pond. Over the years, the water came in from the highway and everywhere else and filled it up. We restored everything back to the way it was 150 years ago.”
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Grant Bissell said detectives are investigating the incident. He said deputies received two calls to the area early in the morning on Dec. 13.
“We got a call at about 1:30 a.m. and then another one shortly after 3 a.m. for a suspicious person in the area flipping over trash cans,” Bissell said. “That person is a white male who’s wearing a camouflage sweatshirt, blue jeans, orange shoes, and carrying a golf club. It is not known if this is the person who was responsible for those crimes, but we did get two calls and deputies went to the area both times and could not locate the individual.”
Bissell said the deputies were not necessarily looking for damage to the preservation site when they received word of a suspicious person. Detectives working on the case are looking to see if the suspicious person and the damage inflicted to the site are related, Bissell said. Those with information related to the vandalism are encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 636-787-5515.
Tuggle said he is working to redecorate the site in time for Christmas.
“This is not a normal thing to do; this is hate,” he said. “This is a person who probably needs help.”