Toms River Mom Expresses Frustration Over Olaf Theft

TOMS RIVER, NJ -- Elsa would not be pleased and neither is a 3-year-old Toms River girl, after her family’s Olaf inflatable was stolen from their yard over the weekend.

“Woke up to find that someone has stolen our 3- and 1-yr-olds’ Olaf inflatable,” Allison Best, the girl’s mother, wrote in a post to the Toms River Patch on Facebook. “My daughter is heartbroken and in tears. I do not understand why someone would do this.”

Best said she and her husband purchased Olaf at Kmart on Black Friday, and the inflatable snowman from the movie “Frozen” had been part of the family’s morning routine since then.

“We didn’t do the Elf on the Shelf,” she said. Instead, ”We had everyone ’wake up’ at 6 a.m.,” when her daughter would press the button to turn on the motors and fill the inflatables with air every day.

When the girl realized Olaf was missing Monday morning, that’s when she got upset, Best said.

“To many this may not sound like a big deal but to a 3-year-old but to her it’s her world,” Best said, adding she told her “Olaf had to go help Santa at the North Pole and will return next Christmas.”

Best, who said Toms River police told her it is one of at least 25 reports of Christmas ornament thefts this holiday season, said she lives on a corner and the display had entertained other children, not just her own.

She was upset by the action of the theft more than anything, she said.

“They (the inflatables) are not inexpensive and someone actually had the audacity to trespass onto our property,” Best said. “It is sad to know that someone had such complete disregard of how it may affect a child. I would have tried to help said person if they were in such desperate need.”

Best, who reached out to several outlets, said her hope is the person will realize how their actions hurt others.

“My intention was to bring attention to what is happening in our neighborhood,” she said. “I hope it does not happen to anyone else.”

And if it was a kid pulling a prank?

“If it was a silly kid ... I get it. But I hope your mom finds it and rats you out!” she said.

If you have information on who absconded with Olaf or who has stolen or damaged other holiday decorations in Toms River, let police know. Even the Grinch learned the error of his ways. Perhaps these folks can, too.

(Photo provided by Allison Best shows her daughter with Olaf before he was stolen from the family’s yard.)