Christmas lights were damaged in several French municipalities the other day.
Photo: REUTERS
The actions of eco-activists and supporters of energy saving in Europe have reached the point of absurdity. Christmas lights were damaged in several French municipalities the other day. The last incident occurred in Lyon on the night of December 15, writes TF1.
– In the morning we found that the garlands decorating the trees were damaged, – said the owner of the store, who allocated his own funds for festive lighting next to his store. All cables were cut by unknown vandals. Now everything is going to waste.
– What is happening is very sad. The Christmas holidays are wonderful, we should celebrate them, complain the inhabitants of Lyon.
However, not everyone shares the disappointment and condemnation of the actions of unknown hooligans.
“I can understand those people who don’t support constantly burning Christmas garlands, remembering that the authorities are asking us to save electricity because there isn’t enough,” says one of the residents of the area where the vandals operated.
However, the owners of shops and restaurants, who worked on the decoration themselves, do not agree with this. According to them, such garlands consume very little electricity.
– The lighting is made of recycled materials, LED bulbs. We have already reduced the lighting time of the garland. All this allows us to leave a very low carbon footprint, and the energy consumption costs 50 euros for 45 days, explains Patrick Brunet, chairman of the board of directors of the retail association Federation Le 6. He also discovered that the wires of his garland they had been cut with wire cutters. His colleague, the owner of a small clothing store, found a note next to the store, kneeling on glass with the inscription “This is not Versailles for you.”
Authorities in the commune of Paimpol, in northern France, where environmentalists also worked hard, estimated damages for damage to Christmas lighting at 18,000 euros.
– Festive lighting costs the municipality only 8 euros per day, – said the deputy mayor of Paimpol Jacqui Guo.
In some communes, vandals removed the garlands and took them away. In Voippi, unknown persons damaged the figure of Santa Claus, installed in the central square.
The police are now trying to establish a connection between the incidents.
