LEWISTON – Sheila Roy thought the inflatable Grinch erected on her front lawn had simply blown away when her two daughters brought attention to its disappearance Saturday night.

When she looked, though, Roy found that the strings attached to the Grinch had been cleanly cut and the electrical attachment unplugged.

The family’s 8-foot-tall Grinch, clad in a Santa suit with his antler-wearing dog, Max, by his side, had been stolen from their yard on Grove Street.

“My girls are so upset about it,” Roy said Monday evening. “They simply don’t understand why someone would take it.”

Roy’s parents bought the decoration about two years ago as a gift for her kids, Sydney, 3, and Madison, 5.

“What scares me is that I was home at the time,” Roy said. “Whoever stole it was daring enough to take my property right under my nose.”

Roy, a nursing student, was home all evening working on a research paper and says when she turned the Christmas lights on at 4:30 p.m., the Grinch was still there.

“When my parents brought the girls home at 7:30 p.m., they came in the house in a panic over their missing Grinch.”

Sydney and Madison have pleaded with their parents for a new Grinch, but Roy is hesitant to buy another decoration that could be stolen again.

“If it was just me, it wouldn’t matter,” explained Roy, “but they took something from my girls.”

Madison and Sydney decided to take action on their own. They constructed a sign appealing for their Grinch’s safe return, complete with a picture of him.

“My husband is going to drill the sign onto a piece of plywood so we can post it on the front lawn,” Roy said.

In the meantime, Roy has contacted the Lewiston Police Department in hopes that the Grinch will be found.