After South End resident Alex Tsalagas’s wreath went missing off his front door the last two years, he decided he was going to do something about it.

And this time, he caught the alleged wreath pilferer on camera.

“It’s Christmastime, people decorate their houses,” Tsalagas told Boston.com. “I’m not going to let someone stealing my wreath every year ruin my Christmas spirit.”

Tsalagas’s surveillance video captures the apparent thief clearly — Tsalagas, a general contractor, knew he needed to increase his internet speed to get a clear picture, he said. It was exactly 3 p.m. on Monday, he said. In the video, the man appears to pause in front of Tsalagas’s home. He’s carrying what appears to be a wreath under one arm, a bag in his other hand. He walks out of the frame, and Tsalagas said there’s a gap of about 6 minutes before he returns. The same man then cuts the cord the wreath is hanging from and walks away.


The wreath, which Tsalagas said he paid $80 for, matched his other decor.

“Trust me, I was upset the whole day,” he said of when his wreath went missing.

He ended up calling the Boston police, who searched the neighborhood. Boston police confirmed they took a report of a larceny on Monday at 6:58 p.m. There are no suspects, and the investigation is still active, police said Wednesday.

Tsalagas also decided he was going to get another wreath.

“I decided to fight back in a way of exposing of him, in a way of getting another wreath,” he said.

Despite Tuesday’s snow, Tsalagas went out to purchase another wreath, even vacating his parking spot to do so.

“And guess what? They had the same one,” he said. “This one was actually on sale.”

This one is padlocked to Tsalagas’s door using some thick wire, he said.

“He’ll have to use some huge clippers,” Tsalagas said.

People have responded to other media reports and said they’ve gone through the same thing, according to Tsalagas. He said it doesn’t matter to him if he has to secure the wreath to his door with chains an inch thick.

“I’m not going to let the Grinch steal my Christmas spirit,” he said.