Grinch steals $8,000 from volunteer-run Christmas village in Farmington

FARMINGTON, Minn. (KMSP) - Police in Farmington, Minnesota are looking for the person who ran off with $8,000 from the Christmas village fundraiser at Heritage Village.

Heritage Village shows how people lived in the 1800s. For two weekends in December, volunteers help host a holiday-themed village with carriage rides, shows and Santa. Volunteers say it's their biggest fundraiser, and the stolen cash was a huge chunk of the year's operating budget.

"This is one of our biggest fundraisers and the proceeds from our biggest weekend ever were all taken,” said volunteer Bill Waldschmidt.

"The people who come out here are very generous and we rely on that to keep the village operating year round,” said Heritage Village board member Dan McNulcy.

Investigators say a door was kicked in and the money was stolen out of an unlocked drawer. Police are looking closely at a shoeprint and some DNA samples left behind at the scene.