One of the two children can be seen unzipping her backpack and dumping the entire bowl of candy inside. Then a boy with her takes some of the candy from her backpack and puts it into his bag. The children appear to be elementary or middle school students.

The video, which appeared to originate from a Tenleytown neighborhood listserv and was cross-posted to a Chevy Chase listserv, was posted after Halloween by a homeowner who described how his family put out a bowl of candy so they could take their 6-year-old daughter trick-or-treating.

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“Less than an hour later a pair of kids showed up with a large backpack and emptied the entire bowl,” the homeowner wrote.

He went on, asking his neighbors, “If you recognize the kids in this video link below, please let them know they are not welcomed on Garrison St. next year.”

The video has since been removed. Attempts to reach the man who posted the video and those in charge of the listserv were unsuccessful, but plenty of neighbors weighed in.

One neighbor said the trick-or-treaters were “welcome always” and listed her address. Then she wrote, “Perhaps a sign on the candy bowl as to how much to take would have been helpful.”

Another woman questioned where the parents of the two children were at the time of the incident and suggested that “perhaps there is some calamity at home.” She continued, “Perhaps their parents aren’t involved.”

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She also said, “In any case, they did what children do before they are full grown. I would love it if we could go back to erring on the side of kindness towards our brethren, instead of looking righteous in the eyes of our neighbors.”

Another neighbor on the listserv from Chevy Chase, Md., called it a “sad state of affairs” and said her candy, when left unattended outside the home, had been stolen “multiple years in a row.”

“I truly hope someone recognizes those children,” she wrote. “The size of their ‘candy’ bags alone speaks to their intentions.”