The Christmas spirit in Canberra was disturbed by thieves on this day in 1993, as the Society of St Vincent de Paul in O'Connor discovered that it had over $1200 worth of gifts stolen. These gifts were toys, clothing, and groceries, intended to be gifted as Christmas presents for underprivileged children.
Twenty-seven bundles of gifts were stolen, all of which had been awaiting distribution when the burglary took place.
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The president and vice-president of the society in O'Connor, Joan and John Cleary, were distraught upon discovering the gifts had been stolen, and said they had spent a lot of time and effort to collect the toys, clothes, and groceries.
"They were very expensive toys people had donated to us to give to people in the area who need help or are underprivileged," Mrs Cleary said.
"Everyone knows these things were for the poor people and it's disgusting that anyone would steal from these sorts of people."
Mr Cleary said much of his devastation had arisen from the fact that the gifts were collected with the intent to assist underprivileged people, and had the thieves come forward and asked for help, they would have been happy to help.
While the thieves showed poor community values and Christmas cheer, luckily, the rest of Canberra did not.
Many of the hampers and bags were replaced quickly due to strong community support and donations.
