NATCHEZ — Santa will have a hard time missing Smith Street thanks to Carmen Holloway and her family.

When The Dart landed on Smith Street, where Holloway’s yard is decked out with Christmas figures including an angel, snowman, presents, Christmas trees and a Snoopy Christmas countdown clock.

But as festive as the Holloway house is now, just a couple of weeks ago it was even more festive with two new reindeer completing the holiday motif.

“They were just beautiful,” she said. “They were by far my favorite thing out there.”

Now, there is just an empty space in the yard where the deer once stood, before being destroyed by a dog one night.

Holloway said the family dog Max started barking at something in the yard, but she didn’t think much of it until she heard something dragging on the street near her bedroom window.

“I got up and went into the living room,” she said. “My family was just standing there in a little bit of shock.

“They didn’t know how to tell me they were destroyed.”

Holloway’s daughter Asia Holloway, 15, said a dog wandered into the yard and after hearing Max barking lunged at the plastic deer.

One of the deer was left behind in pieces. The other is nowhere to be found Asia said.

“(The dog) got the wires all wrapped around him, so he ran off with part of the deer wrapped around his neck and dragging the rest behind him,” Asia said.

What remains is still a large collection, and Carmen said she’d have it no other way.

“Christmas is just a wonderful time of the year,” she said. “To celebrate the birth of the Savior and to spend time with family and friends is just joyous.

“That’s why I decorate, to spread the joy.”

Asia said her mother has always gone overboard when it comes to Christmas.

Asia said one Christmas her mother tried to convince she and her brother Kevin Holloway that they weren’t getting any presents that year.

“We got up at probably 1 in the morning and peeked out and all there was was a teddy bear under the tree, so we went back to bed,” she said. “We did the same thing at 3 and all there was was a teddy bear.

“I was about to go back to bed, when Kevin started saying ‘Asia, they’re in here, they’re in the bathroom.’”

Hidden in the bathtub, were the presents the children were getting for Christmas.

Asia said she has come to expect her mother to go all out for Christmas and can’t imagine a season without her mother’s love for celebrating.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Asia said. “That’s just who my mom is.”