A CHRISTMAS angel was stolen from the top of a Christmas tree. . . in a doctors’ surgery waiting room.

And the festive spirit was in short supply elsewhere in the county when newly installed lights were ripped off a community Christmas tree.

The tree-top angel decoration was taken by a thief from the waiting room of The Harbours Medical Practice, Cockenzie, last Friday afternoon.

Staff at the busy practice posted a plea on its Facebook page following the theft in a bid for the culprit to return the angel.

The post, accompanied with before and after pictures, simply read: “Be an angel and return our angel”.

The practice added: “Hopefully the powers of Facebook work and our angel is returned from her travels soon.”

Many commented blasting the thief.

Practice manager Jane Johnston said: “We want to thank everyone for their support following the theft on Friday.

“We have had lots of offers for replacements. A patient donated a new angel which is now on the tree and we’re all pleased with it.”

Meanwhile, the newly installed £1,600 lights on Ormiston’s Christmas tree, in the village square by The Coalgate, were ripped to the ground on the same evening.

A group of teenagers were spotted pulling the lights from the tree and were lambasted when they were called out online by the village’s community council.

The community fundraised £1,000 of the money to fit the tree with new lights this year, as it had grown significantly since the last were put up. The rest of the cost was allocated from the community council’s budget.

An Ormiston Community Council member posted pictures of the destruction on Facebook and appealed for information regarding the culprits. Many people were upset and angered by the incident.

Since then, a couple of teenagers have been identified and their parents have been informed.

Scott Gillies, chair of the community council, said: “On Friday night I got a phone call about 7.30pm from my dad saying he saw a group of teenagers by the tree pulling the lights.

“That tree was planted about 12 years ago but it had obviously grown so the community raised money to have new lights fitted this year and they looked great.

“A lot of people turned out to see them get switched on, even in torrential rain.

“The response on Facebook has hopefully made the youths involved think about what they did because they have been getting a hard time for it. Hopefully it will stop anything similar happening in the future.

“On Sunday, a local farmer brought his forklift down with a basket attached to boom me up and reattach the lights to the tree so they have been put back up, but there are now a couple of strands missing and some of the bulbs have gone.

“I don’t think they will be repaired this year, we will need to see about getting it done next year.

“The real cost isn’t the lights themselves, it is getting them put up. The company who does them are quite hard to get a hold of and they’ll be busy for the rest of the year.”