Santa Barbara woman claims 10-foot-tall Easter decoration was stolen off her property

A case of theft is dampening the Easter holiday for one Santa Barbara woman.

Evelyn claims a 10-foot-tall stuffed Easter bunny she put on her front lawn was stolen right off of her property on Foothill Road.

She says she put the stuffed rabbit in her front yard Thursday night, but just two hours later, she noticed it was gone. She even chained and locked it to a post.

Evelyn showed NewsChannel 3’s Alex Biston a surveillance video of a Toyota Tundra carrying her Easter bunny decoration.

“It shows a truck driving by with the bunny in the back, so someone with this Toyota Tundra has our bunny,” said Evelyn.

There’s a real Grinch out there and it’s not even Christmas yet. This isn’t the first case of decoration theft Evelyn has encountered.

“A few years ago, we put a Santa out and they took our Santa and after four days someone returned it,” said Evelyn. “They just threw it out of their car as they drove by and then two years ago, we put out a great big turkey for Thanksgiving and someone chopped off his neck and head so this makes us wonder if we are going to continue doing this.”

Evelyn believes the thefts are not connected to the same person.

“I just think someone different just takes them and it’s wonderful to respect peoples’ property and realize that this bunny sitting out gives a lot of joy to people who pass by,” said Evelyn.

She says she filed a police report with the Santa Barbara Police Department, but ultimately she just wants the rabbit returned.