A real-life Grinch robbed one Madison County family of all of their Christmas decorations. Every single Christmas item was stolen.
While years' worth of nativity scenes and ornaments are a costly loss, the family said the greatest loss is the keepsakes that cannot be replaced.
"That's all that's left of the tree, just a few limbs," said Keri Cowart as she pointed to what used to be her Christmas tree.
On Friday, Cowart was eager to unbox her ornaments and decorate for the holidays.
"We were gonna set up our Christmas decorations for the year," she explained.
However, when she showed up to her storage shed, it had been torn apart. Christmas decorations, dating back decades, were all gone.
"There was ornaments that my mother-in-law had given my children, and she just passed away a few weeks ago, so that makes it a lot more difficult," said Cowart.
She is still calculating the total value of the stolen items, but she can't put a price tag on the memories.
"My daughter had this blue bulb with her handprint on it, which she made in preschool. And I just — I loved that one," said Cowart, holding back tears.
With two weeks until Christmas and no decorations, she started an Amazon wish list. While people have been supportive, she said true Christmas magic can't be bought at a store.
"I would rather have my stuff back," said Cowart.
Now, she's left searching for how to get on with the holidays after such a loss. When asked if she was still looking forward to Christmas, she replied, "Not as much, but yeah, there's hope. We've got hope."
Cowart said she filed a report with the Madison County Sheriff's Office, but they don't know the exact day the robbery took place, since she hadn't been to the shed in about a month. She hopes the thieves might try to pawn some family items, and she'll gladly buy them back just to have those memories for the holidays.
