It's hard times in California. Even high-end suburban SUV owners are having to turn to squalid crime in order to get by:

Seriously. Who steals a family's newly purchased Christmas tree? This happened to a man in San Mateo on Friday evening, 10 minutes after he went into a store to run an errand.

Watch as the white SUV person snips each rope & loads the tree into his vehicle like it's no big deal.

SMPD told me yesterday this is a unique situation and "even though we didn't catch this Grinch he/she is definitely getting added to Santa's Naughty List".

Pretty sure this wasn't a crime of opportunity or anything. You don't exactly pull this sort of thing off on a lark. This guy was ready.

The victim, meanwhile, reportedly "declined to file an official police report." That's how bad it's gotten over there. You get your tree boosted and you're too scared of the thug gangs to even do anything about it. What a Christmas.

Of course, this is the state that is also dealing with literal sea pirates, so maybe this isn't all that surprising:

Lock your trees up, Californians. Nothing's safe anymore.

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