A Santa Claus doll decorated in a shopping street in Tokushima City before Christmas was found stolen. A nearby security camera shows a person taking away a doll about 1 meter high, and the police are investigating it as a theft case.
At the Higashi-Shinmachi shopping street in the center of Tokushima City, Santa Claus dolls and Christmas trees are decorated in the square of the shopping street every year at this time to give visitors a taste of the Christmas spirit.
According to the shopping street association, on the 7th, a shopper contacted us that the Santa Claus doll in the square was missing, and when we checked, we found that the Santa Claus doll about 1 meter high was missing.
A nearby security camera showed a black van pulling into the square at around 1 p.m. on the day of the decorations, and a person getting out of the car took away the dolls and decorations alone.
Passers-by looked at him suspiciously, and about four minutes later, the person got into his car and drove away from the square.
This shopping street filed a damage report on the 11th, and the police are investigating it as a theft case.
Norihiko Fukuda, chairman of the Higashi-Shinmachi 1-chome Shopping Street Promotion Association, said, "Even though the number of people coming to the shopping street is decreasing, the Christmas season has been a struggle to increase the number of people thanks to the illuminations.
A fourth-grade elementary school girl who lives nearby said, "I was surprised to see Santa when I was passing by, but he was gone the next day.