TAUNTON, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A 57-year-old man admits to Fox 25 that he took a Christmas tree from the grave of a little girl who was the daughter of a police sergeant who died when she was just 7 years old.
And this isn't the first time a tree went missing from the grave. The tree has gone missing for the last four years in a row.
So this year Taunton's chief put a GPS on the tree and on New Year's Eve when it was taken, they found it at Gerry Dutra's home. His reason for taking it?
âCause I saw it there and I thought the cemetery workers would throw it out. It was the only tree they had there," he said. "It was a bad decision ok?â
Dutra admits to Fox 25 that he took the Christmas tree from the grave of Sgt. William Henault's daughter who died of brain cancer when she was only 7. And Henault wants to know why.
âI don't know why he selected my daughter's grave. I'm confident he did it in the past. I can't prove it, but I'm confident he did,â Henault said.
Dutra denies he took the other trees and regrets taking this one.
âBut it was a bad decision," he said. "I apologized to him.â
However after 4 years of missing trees that apology fell on deaf ears.
âI'm all set with that to be honest with ya,â Henault said.
At least the ornaments from this year's tree are safe, and so is his daughter's tree.
Cox Media Group
