DICKSON, Tenn. - Over the past 13 years, the Tidwell family decorated 3-year-old Brittany Tidwell's grave with different Christmas decorations.
The centerpiece was a purple Christmas tree. Purple was the child's favorite color.
"I hope nobody has to go through what I went through when I buried my daughter," said Brad Tidwell.
Every year, relatives added a new ornament to the tree.
On Thursday night, a family friend noticed someone took the decorations from Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Dickson County.
"Everything we did up to this year was purple, but as you can see, we had to change this year because we couldn't find purple stuff to replace it with," said Tidwell beside the grave.
Tidwell said when he and his family arrived they said that presents and the tree and ornaments were missing.
He said this was the first year his daughter's grave wasn't decorated with her favorite color.
"I hope who took the tree enjoyed it over the holidays because they sure made ours a hard one," he said.
He doesn't understand why it happened.
"That's the thing that hurts the most," he said. "They didn't steal from us, they stole it from our 3-year-old daughter. She's not even around to defend it. They just picked it up and left with it."
Brittany was the second of five children.
"She always smiled," Tidwell said. "She was always smiling."
On Nov. 4, 1994, Brittany passed away from fluid buildup in her lungs.
"There was an E. coli breakout a week after she passed," Tidwell said. "Never was confirmed, (but) a lot of the family members believed that's what it was."
Thirteen years later, a thief made this holiday season tougher to deal with for the Tidwells.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," Tidwell said.
The Tidwell family is just thankful they can still honor her.
"They didn't break the tradition," Tidwell said about the thief. "All they did was force us to go out and buy a new tree and to start it over."
Tidwell said through the years little things go missing from time to time, but not the entire Christmas tree.
One item that is of particular interest is a tree skirt he brought back while serving in Iraq.
Family members said they would like to find out who took the items. They hope the person realizes what they did and return the items to the grave.
Police said there isn't anything they can really do in the case of gravesite robbers unless they are caught in the act.
The centerpiece was a purple Christmas tree. Purple was the child's favorite color.
"I hope nobody has to go through what I went through when I buried my daughter," said Brad Tidwell.
Every year, relatives added a new ornament to the tree.
On Thursday night, a family friend noticed someone took the decorations from Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Dickson County.
"Everything we did up to this year was purple, but as you can see, we had to change this year because we couldn't find purple stuff to replace it with," said Tidwell beside the grave.
Tidwell said when he and his family arrived they said that presents and the tree and ornaments were missing.
He said this was the first year his daughter's grave wasn't decorated with her favorite color.
"I hope who took the tree enjoyed it over the holidays because they sure made ours a hard one," he said.
He doesn't understand why it happened.
"That's the thing that hurts the most," he said. "They didn't steal from us, they stole it from our 3-year-old daughter. She's not even around to defend it. They just picked it up and left with it."
Brittany was the second of five children.
"She always smiled," Tidwell said. "She was always smiling."
On Nov. 4, 1994, Brittany passed away from fluid buildup in her lungs.
"There was an E. coli breakout a week after she passed," Tidwell said. "Never was confirmed, (but) a lot of the family members believed that's what it was."
Thirteen years later, a thief made this holiday season tougher to deal with for the Tidwells.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," Tidwell said.
The Tidwell family is just thankful they can still honor her.
"They didn't break the tradition," Tidwell said about the thief. "All they did was force us to go out and buy a new tree and to start it over."
Tidwell said through the years little things go missing from time to time, but not the entire Christmas tree.
One item that is of particular interest is a tree skirt he brought back while serving in Iraq.
Family members said they would like to find out who took the items. They hope the person realizes what they did and return the items to the grave.
Police said there isn't anything they can really do in the case of gravesite robbers unless they are caught in the act.
DICKSON, Tenn. - Over the past 13 years, the Tidwell family decorated 3-year-old Brittany Tidwell's grave with different Christmas decorations.
The centerpiece was a purple Christmas tree. Purple was the child's favorite color.
"I hope nobody has to go through what I went through when I buried my daughter," said Brad Tidwell.
Every year, relatives added a new ornament to the tree.
On Thursday night, a family friend noticed someone took the decorations from Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Dickson County.
"Everything we did up to this year was purple, but as you can see, we had to change this year because we couldn't find purple stuff to replace it with," said Tidwell beside the grave.
Tidwell said when he and his family arrived they said that presents and the tree and ornaments were missing.
He said this was the first year his daughter's grave wasn't decorated with her favorite color.
"I hope who took the tree enjoyed it over the holidays because they sure made ours a hard one," he said.
He doesn't understand why it happened.
"That's the thing that hurts the most," he said. "They didn't steal from us, they stole it from our 3-year-old daughter. She's not even around to defend it. They just picked it up and left with it."
Brittany was the second of five children.
"She always smiled," Tidwell said. "She was always smiling."
On Nov. 4, 1994, Brittany passed away from fluid buildup in her lungs.
"There was an E. coli breakout a week after she passed," Tidwell said. "Never was confirmed, (but) a lot of the family members believed that's what it was."
Thirteen years later, a thief made this holiday season tougher to deal with for the Tidwells.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," Tidwell said.
The Tidwell family is just thankful they can still honor her.
"They didn't break the tradition," Tidwell said about the thief. "All they did was force us to go out and buy a new tree and to start it over."
Tidwell said through the years little things go missing from time to time, but not the entire Christmas tree.
One item that is of particular interest is a tree skirt he brought back while serving in Iraq.
Family members said they would like to find out who took the items. They hope the person realizes what they did and return the items to the grave.
Police said there isn't anything they can really do in the case of gravesite robbers unless they are caught in the act.
The centerpiece was a purple Christmas tree. Purple was the child's favorite color.
"I hope nobody has to go through what I went through when I buried my daughter," said Brad Tidwell.
Every year, relatives added a new ornament to the tree.
On Thursday night, a family friend noticed someone took the decorations from Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Dickson County.
"Everything we did up to this year was purple, but as you can see, we had to change this year because we couldn't find purple stuff to replace it with," said Tidwell beside the grave.
Tidwell said when he and his family arrived they said that presents and the tree and ornaments were missing.
He said this was the first year his daughter's grave wasn't decorated with her favorite color.
"I hope who took the tree enjoyed it over the holidays because they sure made ours a hard one," he said.
He doesn't understand why it happened.
"That's the thing that hurts the most," he said. "They didn't steal from us, they stole it from our 3-year-old daughter. She's not even around to defend it. They just picked it up and left with it."
Brittany was the second of five children.
"She always smiled," Tidwell said. "She was always smiling."
On Nov. 4, 1994, Brittany passed away from fluid buildup in her lungs.
"There was an E. coli breakout a week after she passed," Tidwell said. "Never was confirmed, (but) a lot of the family members believed that's what it was."
Thirteen years later, a thief made this holiday season tougher to deal with for the Tidwells.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," Tidwell said.
The Tidwell family is just thankful they can still honor her.
"They didn't break the tradition," Tidwell said about the thief. "All they did was force us to go out and buy a new tree and to start it over."
Tidwell said through the years little things go missing from time to time, but not the entire Christmas tree.
One item that is of particular interest is a tree skirt he brought back while serving in Iraq.
Family members said they would like to find out who took the items. They hope the person realizes what they did and return the items to the grave.
Police said there isn't anything they can really do in the case of gravesite robbers unless they are caught in the act.
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