KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Michelle Hughes, her husband and their two young boys live on 92nd Terrace in Kansas City, Missouri, just west of Liberty. Thursday morning, they noticed their 17-foot-tall Rudolph was deflated. They reviewed their Nest camera video and saw that someone had slashed Rudolph overnight.
“The kids were really looking forward to Santa being able to find our house because the Rudolph is so big,” Hughes said. “So, knowing he wasn’t going to inflate definitely made us sad this morning.”
Hughes is not sure who did the slash-and-dash, but she thinks it may have been a prank. She took the opportunity to teach her 8-year-old and 5-year-old sons a lesson.
“I pointed out to our kids to remember when they’re teenagers and someone dares them to do something, to think about it, what it’s doing to that person or how it would make that person feel,” Hughes said.
Thankfully, relatives managed to patch up Rudolph. He is now standing tall in the Northland once again, looking cooler than ever.
“Maybe a little bit of scars, but I think, like my brother-in-law said, chicks like scars, right?" Hughes joked. "So I think Rudolph has a little scar, but he’s no worse for the wear.”
It turns out, the neighborhood had fallen in love with Rudolph. One neighbor offered to let the Hughes borrow their inflatable. The Hughes family joked that they planned to ask their neighbors if they wanted to stand guard to try to protect Rudolph overnight.
In the end, all is calm and all is bright now that Santa’s favorite reindeer is back up.
“I think it’s just going to be a family story that we’ll tell for years to come,” Hughes said.
The family did file a police report. If you recognize the person who slashed Rudolph, call the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.
