SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
True to Dr. Seuss' epic tale, Yellowknife's own Grinch had a change of heart last week and returned a stolen Christmas to a city family.

Karen Dunlop stands by the Christmas tree that was stolen from her home on Dec. 2, and returned three days later after the family was featured in an article by the Yellowknifer. Dunlop said her children are happy the tree is back, but are still wary of other ornaments being stolen. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photo

Karen Dunlop and her children left the house early Thursday morning to find their tree, thought long gone or destroyed, sitting in the snow – with a bow and ribbon to boot.

"It was right there in the middle of the yard. The kids were like "What's that!" and when we looked closer we realized it was our tree," she told Yellowknifer Monday. "They were pretty excited and the whole way to school they were giggling - that was the best thing about it ... it made the kids really happy."

The tree had been stolen from the property sometime during the night of Dec. 2, the day after the family completed 20-hours worth of decorating to enter the Christmas light competition put on by the city of Yellowknife and Northland Utilities.

"Northland Utilities were notified that the tree was stolen and when they come around this week to take photos for the competition. I guess they'll figure out we got it back," Dunlop said.

Since the tree was returned, Dunlop has put it back in the front yard as a symbol of pride, even though she's still uncomfortable about putting her other decorations out front, she said. The stand for the tree was broken during the theft, so the family has packed snow around it to keep it standing. Fortunately, its lights still work.

While the Dunlop children were excited to have the tree back, they were equally excited to see their story in the paper last Wednesday and know they were doing something about the theft.

"My son carried a copy of the newspaper all day, and even that made a difference," Dunlop said. "They'll always remember it was stolen, but they feel we did something about it."

When the tree was stolen, Dunlop was worried the theft would leave a smudge on her children's Christmas memories as they got older, but with its return she said she's as worried anymore. Even still, the children haven't forgotten what happened and are protective over the rest of the Christmas display.

"(Alexander) still makes me bring the snowman in every night and checks every day to see if the tree is stolen again," his mother said. "But we're pretty sure people now know not to take that tree."

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