Yucaipa community helps church replace stolen Christmas tree

The Yucaipa community showed the true meaning of holiday spirit over the weekend, helping a church replace its Christmas tree after the previous one was stolen earlier in the week. 

David Hernandez, the lead pastor of Hope Dealer Church in Yucaipa, said that he's passionate about giving people a chance to experience religion who normally wouldn't feel comfortable in a formal setting. 

"We first started out in the park, because people, they wanted to come to church, but they felt like they couldn't step into a regular church," he said. 

Hernandez said that they had set up what they call a "Blessings Tree" outside of their church, but that it was stolen within 24 hours. Security camera video shows two women stealing the tree, loading it to the top of their dark-colored SUV before hauling it away. 

Word of the theft quickly spread, eventually reaching the owners of County Line Christmas Tree Farm. They promptly invited Hope Dealer Church to their property so they could pick another tree for free.

"Everybody in this town really works together, and all of the small businesses, we try to look out for each other," said Stefanie Stark, who owns the tree lot. "It was another small business that told me about then, and then, we helped them out."

She says it's a small gift for a tree farm that helps so many families decorate their homes for the holidays, but a present from the heart that should help bring the Christmas spirit back to Hope Dealer Church.

"It was a blessing," Hernandez said. 

The tree, set up in the same spot as the previously stolen one, had a little extra security this time around.

"We took precautions, though, this time," Hernandez said, tugging on the heavy iron chains wrapped around the tree's trunk. "We locked the tree up."