HOUSTON — Brazen thieves were caught on camera stealing holiday décor in a northwest Houston neighborhood early Thursday morning.
The two thieves took an inflatable Rudolph from the lawn of a home near TC Jester and the North Loop. The homeowners have put out a $2,000 reward for Rudolph's return.
Ernest Fuhrmann said it's not about the money, but returning what has brought joy to so many in his neighborhood.
"People just shouldn’t be stealing Christmas ornaments, décors of all things," he said.
Ring video from Ernest's home shows a woman run up to his driveway at around 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning and deflate his inflatable Rudolph.
"I woke up this morning and noticed it was gone," he said.
Ernest said he went back to check the video and saw two people returned to the deflated Rudolph a short time later and dragged it into their car.
"Started pulling up the Ring cameras because I have a few of them up front," he said. "Unfortunately, last night I didn't have motion sensors alert on."
The woman even came up to the front porch and tried to take Santa's mailbox.
Ernest's home is known for the yearly decorations that help promote a holiday toy drive.
"I don’t want someone to think that they can come unto my property and take my stuff, certainly don’t want them to think they can take the joy out of Christmas for the kids," he said. "Took 5 or 6 minutes. The dog didn’t bark either, so I was sound asleep."
Ernest hopes that the video and cash reward brings his Rudolph back.
Experts suggest purchasing a tracking device, like an AirTag, to attach to valuable outdoor decorations in case they get stolen.