A Grinch has been stealing Montrose’s Christmas tree lights

The Montrose Shopping Park has been hit with a string of thefts over the last few months but, instead of stores being robbed of merchandise, thieves have been targeting Christmas lights.

Someone has been stealing the Christmas lights that adorn many of the trees at the shopping park between the 2200 and 2400 blocks of Honolulu Avenue.

Dale Dawson, business administrator for the shopping park, said the cost of the thefts and replacing the lights has been more than $2,000.

He said it’s the first time he can recall anything like this happening.

“We haven’t got a clue as to who is doing it and we can’t really pin down a specific location because they hit various areas,” he said.

Dawson suspects that whoever has been stealing the lights has been selling them and that some of the thefts may have occurred in the daylight, because lights that were present in the afternoon were gone by the evening.

“It’s a head-scratcher that someone could be so bold,” he said.

Tahnee Lightfoot, Glendale police spokeswoman, said the department was notified of the thefts several days ago. Businesses have already been told to provide any relevant security footage to the department while citizens have been asked to keep a lookout for suspicious activity.

“We have a community that’s upset about this because everybody loves going down to Montrose and go shopping or to dinner — it’s always been a really beautiful place during the holidays,” she said.

Despite the continued thefts, Dawson said that the shopping park will continue to replace any of the lights during the holiday season. A $250 reward is even being offered to help catch the person or persons responsible.

“It’s just worth it to maintain the lights for the community and merchants,” he said. “It’s something that’s just iconic here.”

Saturday marks the return of the Montrose Christmas Parade, which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary. The parade — which takes place along Honolulu, between Rosemont Avenue and Verdugo Road — begins at 6 p.m. and will feature more than 1,000 participants, with up to 25,000 spectators.

Anyone with information about the thefts is encouraged to call the police at (818) 548-4911.

Nguyen writes for Glendale News-Press.

Andy Nguyen, andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc