Satanic group says Christmas in the Park visitors are stealing ornaments from its holiday display

Amanda del Castillo Image
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Satanic group says Christmas in the Park visitors are stealing ornaments from its holiday display
Satanic Bay Area says Christmas in the Park visitors are taking much more than time while admiring the hundreds of trees on display.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Satanic Bay Area says Christmas in the Park visitors are taking much more than time while admiring the hundreds of trees on display. Instead, the organization claims people are taking ornaments from its holiday display.

"It's kind of ironic there's a Satanic Christmas tree, just in general," Rory Fry, a visitor to Christmas in the Park, said. "I'm surprised more hasn't happened to it."

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Fry and his family were enjoying Christmas in the Park on Tuesday evening.

Satanic Bay Area, a grassroots group of atheistic Satanists said it hung 140 handmade ornaments, and are now quickly running out. In a media release, the organization said it is pleading for people to stop stealing.

However, some park goers shared their own perspective on polite behavior.

"I think it's not correct to put that here," Filipa Barreiros told ABC7 News. "Especially that they've accepted to have that tree here."

In 2017, a tree sponsored by a different group, Satanic Temple, had its tree topper stolen. The giant black goat head has since been located, according to Christmas in the Park Executive Director, Jason Minsky.

Minsky told us, the issue of stolen ornaments is not exclusive to Satanic sponsored trees. In fact, sponsors are told not to put anything valuable on display.

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The media release by Satanic Bay Area said fellow Satanists in Sacramento have volunteered to make additional ornaments to help reload the tree.

The release also read, "If this keeps up, we might have to put some kind of curse on the new ones-- or maybe just stick something gross on the backside, we haven't decided yet."