BERWICK, Pa. — In it's 75th year, the Berwick Christmas Boulevard is bigger and brighter than ever. The spotlight this year is the display in honor of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. But over the weekend, Clark Griswold was ripped from his mounting post and taken.
"If it's a college gag, it's a bad one. Whatever the reasoning is, not a good move," said Mayor Tim Burke. "We're going to find them. We have a very aggressive police department and this is high on their radar, trust me. There will be no peace in our police department until this is returned."
Based off of the timeline of when folks last saw Clark, borough officials believe he was stolen sometime after 10 Christmas night, but before daylight Sunday morning. The Christmas Boulevard is one of Berwick's most cherished traditions. Mayor Burke can only remember something like this happening once, more than a decade ago, and it was something small.
"It is taking away from the kids. The Boulevard shuts down December 31. We only have a few more days. This is a loss, this is a big piece of the Boulevard that's gone," he said.
Volunteers with the Christmas Boulevard spend all year planning and preparing for this Berwick tradition and Clark Griswold, the camper, and cousin Eddie were all new additions this year.
"Year-long process, a lot of people take their own time, their own money, to build these great displays. To have someone just take it, if they want one, come down and build your own, we'll help them out," said Michael Monico Jr.
Michael Monico has been the President of the Berwick Christmas Boulevard since 2014; he is putting up a reward of $500 to get Clark back.
"But if they find it in their heart they want to return it, they can contact me, or just drop it off at the Christmas Boulevard, no questions asked. We just want to put it back on for people to see," he said.
If you have any information, contact the Berwick Police Department.