A SHOP owner in York’s most historic street has condemned the vandals who ripped down the boutique’s festive light display.

Maggie Barnfather, of Barnfathers of York in Shambles, arrived at her fashion boutique yesterday morning to discover a Santa Claus figure had been ripped down from above the shop’s window.

She said: “We have been putting it up for the past five years and all the tourists love it. We see them taking photographs of it.

“I just think it’s unfortunate that we are living in a society that doesn’t appreciate nice things and there are people out there who want to spoil Christmas for everyone else.

“It’s so upsetting that you can’t do something without somebody else trying to spoil it.”