On the night of Dec. 1, Marquette kicked off the holiday season with its annual Winter Snow Fun Holiday Parade, which was followed by a tree lighting ceremony at the Marquette Commons. This was an incredibly well-attended event to which children and parents alike had been looking forward.

Unfortunately, someone in the area took it upon themselves to damper the holiday spirit this past weekend.

As reported in Wednesday’s Mining Journal, the police received a report Sunday morning of vandalism to the bricks and steps in the Commons stairway, a parking meter, and lights and cords on the Christmas tree. The police are still investigating the incident.

The Marquette Downtown Development Authority put in a lot of work to host a successful, family-friendly event, only to have someone come through and vandalize the area for no reason. Not to mention how far Santa Claus had to come in order to light the tree with Marquette Mayor Tom Baldini.

We at The Mining Journal find this to be a detestable and senseless act, and believe the culprit should come forward to atone for his or her wrongdoing. Or if you happen to know the person who did this, please come forward and do the right thing.

It’s one thing to destroy your own property; it’s quite another to destroy public property, especially considering all the hard work that went into that day’s event.

Some of our staff was in attendance for the parade and tree lighting, and if you could see all the people that came out and enjoyed this event, perhaps you would have thought twice about your foolish act.

If anyone has any information that could aid the investigation, they are asked to call the Marquette City Police at 906-228-0400.