The citizens of tiny Discovery Bay are offering a $3,500 reward for help in getting their hands on the Grinch who cut down the town´s living Christmas tree.

The 35-foot pine was on its side Saturday. The lights were still twinkling. The white star on the top lay crushed on the ground. Residents raised the reward on their own for help in tracking down the tree killer. Virgil Koehne is the town´s general manager. He says residents are heartbroken. The tree was planted at the Discovery Bay Shopping Center about seven years ago to be the town´s Christmas tree.

Each year, residents gathered in the shopping center on the first Friday in December for a community celebration around the tree.