VIDALIA, La. &045; A lump of coal in his stocking will be the least of his worries for whoever vandalized the Christmas display in front of Vidalia High School Tuesday night.

Vidalia officials are offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever drove a truck up to the display and took out Santa Claus and several reindeer.

&uot;We’re not going to tolerate this,&uot; Mayor Hyram Copeland said.

The decorations &045; which the city has put up at the site for several years &045; were sitting off U.S. 84 in front of the high school. Copeland said the decorations were worth up to $2,500.

Someone apparently drove what may have been a small truck off the highway and onto the hill, mangling the lighted Santa and a few of the reindeer decorations.

Tuesday afternoon, town workers erected some smaller reindeer at the site to replace the others. Broken light bulbs and snapped wires littered the ground, and tire tracks were still visible.

Copeland said the tire tracks lead investigators to believe the vandal drove a small truck and may have even almost got stuck in muddy ground.

&uot;We’re going to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,&uot; Copeland said.

Some holiday displays on residences on Elm Street were also disturbed Tuesday night, Copeland said.

There was no vandalism at the site of the Winter Wonderland of Lights, a large, drive-through display along the riverfront.

Copeland said security cameras on the riverfront would catch anyone looking to do harm there.

Anyone with information about Tuesday night’s vandalism can call the Vidalia Police Department at 336-5254.