Morley: Christmas tree in Leeds only lit on one half - because vandals cut the wires

The tree, in Morley, left people scratching their heads wondering why only one half of it had been lit up.

But the town council said Grinch-like vandals had attacked it earlier this week, meaning only half of its lights are functioning.

One resident has said previous trees in the town have been so bad he assumed the damaged light display was intentional.

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Dominic Broughton, 31, said: “It was just half-lit, really, it looked like a third of the actual tree had not been installed correctly, or maybe that was how it was supposed to look when they bought it.

"We soon came to learn that it was from vandalism. Through the past experiences of Morley’s Christmas trees, they haven’t been incredibly impressive.

“I just thought this one took the Michael a little, but I think I jumped the gun a little bit on the reason.

“I genuinely thought that’s how the Christmas tree was supposed to look.

“It was too obvious of a problem to not have been fixed sooner, it felt like a small portion of it wasn’t lit up, it was the entire back row of it.

“I put two-and-two together and came up with a window.”

He added: “Last year’s [tree] was quite good, because it looked particularly real, but the previous one before that – my memory’s not the best – but I can very much remember them not being much to shout about.

“They’ve just been quite synthetic, tall, it’s quite difficult for me to explain.”

Despite posting a picture of the tree on social media, Dominic was clear that he’s not criticising the council for the damage.

He said: “The post was meant for humour, it was the main point of why I put it up.

“It wasn’t a massive dig towards the council or anything, it was just incredibly funny to look at and I thought it might’ve made other people smile as well, so that was the purpose of it.”

Contractors are now working to fix the tree to restore the town’s Christmas spirit.

A Morley Town council spokesperson said: “It is very disappointing that the people of Morley have suffered this very unseasonal vandalism, depriving many in the community, from young to old, of the centrepiece of the Christmas illumination in the town.

“We are working with our contractor to try and resolve the matter as soon as possible.”