The switch tree in the center of Den Bosch turns out to be a real magnet for bad pilots. The tree was knocked over by the police during a chase on Friday night, but it happened again on Monday. This time it involved a mobility scooter driver who destroyed the lines used to secure the switch pole.
“What hasn’t happened? Do you have a minute,” Maurice Koch answers with a laugh when asked what the tree has had to endure in recent years. Maurice is the initiator behind the switch tree in the center of Den Bosch. You can place presents at the special Christmas tree or take them with you for free. “People have jumped in, the tree has been destroyed and toppled by the wind. We have been through enough,” he says.
Normally the tree mainly attracts generous residents of Den Bosch, but it also turns out to be a magnet for misery: the tree breaks down in various ways every year. This time a driver on a mobility scooter broke the lines that secure the tree.
“Well, there are some grabby people around.”
“But we keep going, we won’t let ourselves be discouraged,” says Maurice in good spirits. There is a lot involved in maintaining the switch tree. This year there will also be vouchers for book and toy stores on the tree. A neighbor liked the initiative so much that he donated five hundred euros in gift vouchers. These are apparently very popular. The man in the mobility scooter thought one voucher was not enough and decided to drive around the tree to pick a few more, which broke the lines.
“Well, there are some grabby people in the neighborhood,” says Maurice. “But that is part of it, we have accepted that. It is sometimes difficult, but we do our best to make it as fair as possible.”
“No worries. No vandalism, just police.”
Last weekend Maurice was also allowed to decorate the tree again. Then he woke up at night from a message from the neighbor. ‘No problem. No vandalism, just police,” it was written. “And yes, then I looked at the images on my Ring doorbell and it was a hit,” says Maurice. A police patrol car knocked over the tree during a chase.
“I then thought for a moment: oh oh, we have something to do again,” says the initiator. “But we played some Christmas music and after 45 minutes the tree was up again.”
Maurice takes the damage for granted, but he has learned from previous years. “The balls are now idiot-proof, nowadays they are made of plastic.” When there were glass balls hanging in the tree, they broke every time the tree fell. Not only the packages were taken, but all the balls were picked from the tree.