The Tilbury Lions Christmas Light Festival has gone dark.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, the committee announced that the light displays have been turned off early after the park was targeted by vandals.
"This is the second time this season that extension cords have been stolen out of the park," said Organizer Mark Authier. "We had some lights stolen earlier this year as well, the first time some of our extension cords were stolen."
The committee decided to close the light festival this year to maintain their equipment for next year's festival as well as to avoid another theft.
"It's extremely upsetting," said Authier. "We have donors that help us pay for this festival and we just have to keep buying the same things over and over instead of being able to add new displays."
In the light festival's first year, Authier said about $3,000 worth of equipment was stolen. The cords are tacked into the ground, but because the ground is not frozen over, the cords can be easily removed.
"Despite this, we will be back next season and will do it all over again," said Authier.
The committee is apologizing to the public for the abrupt closure of the light festival this year.
"Thank you to our community for your understanding," read the Facebook post.
