A city council was called out for its Christmas tree decorations in the town of Forster in Australia.
Residents raged in a review on Facebook about the “pathetic” and “embarrassing” display, criticizing the MidCoast Council’s Christmas tree as an “ugly Mr. Squiggle,” according to the New York Post.
“Not that I expect anything less from our council, but this needs to stop,” the reviewer, a user called Midwest Aerial Photography, wrote. “Keep in mind before reading — the Mr. Squiggle effort took three days to complete.”
“For all the money, effort and advertising that is spent in tourism from people like myself and many other dedicated content creators, businesses and organizations in the region bringing people to our beautiful area, there is nothing that screams neglect and lack of interest more than an unthoughtful, rushed, ugly, non-Christmassy, rope light installation on arguably one of the most noticeable trees in the entire Forster-Tuncurry,” the reviewer continued.
The council’s Christmas tree decorations were compared to displays from previous years, according to the outlet. The reviewer implied that minimal effort was put into the tree, which was described as “a bit of light rope dangling out of a tree.”
“What kills me more is that in previous years all the feedback that you would have gotten for the exact same thing, hasn’t been learned from, and instead of being rectified or changed with the help of community feedback has been replicated yet again, as if it’s some kind of a winning formula,” the reviewer wrote.
Locals responded to the review, expressing their own disapproval, the outlet reported. The MidCoast Council released a statement to address complaints. (RELATED: ‘We Broke In’: Florida Family Famous For Extravagant Christmas Display Exposed As Squatters: REPORT)
“Installing Christmas lights on large trees such as this is a specialist operation that we do not have the budget to deliver,” the MidCoast Council’s statement said. “Our staff are not professional tree decorators and we have delivered what was possible with the budget available and in the same way we have in previous years.”