BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — One family's holiday cheer was in danger of going extinct due to a grinch who stole their inflatable Christmas dinosaur right off their lawn on Thanksgiving.
Thankfully, with the help of a few Hernando County Sheriff's Office deputies, the family's towering decoration is back where it belongs.
Deputies said they were called Thursday to a home on Arizona Street in Brooksville about an 8-foot inflatable Christmas-themed dinosaur that was reportedly stolen from the front yard.
The woman who called told deputies when she realized the inflatable dino was missing, she went on the hunt around the neighborhood to see if she could find it. She then told deputies she spotted the festive decoration hidden in the back of a property down the street.
Deputies said they were able to locate and retrieve the inflatable dinosaur at that home. The deputies then took the dino back to its rightful home.
It was still in one piece.
"The family was thrilled their inflatable dinosaur was returned no worse for wear," the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook.
The sheriff's office added its investigation is still active and deputies have identified a possible suspected thief.