Brazen theft of Grinch-themed doormat leaves Etobicoke woman stunned

When Sally Armstrong got a notification from her Nest doorbell camera while at home with her infant son in Etobicoke on Tuesday afternoon, she assumed someone was delivering the Christmas presents she was expecting.

Instead, she watched as a woman casually walked up to her doorway, looked at her Grinch-themed doormat, and then walked away with it. 

Armstrong says she was outraged. 

"I stormed downstairs and opened the door, hoping to, you know, catch them. Unfortunately, they had walked a distance away, so I couldn't run after them because I couldn't leave my baby," she said. 

"But I did yell after them. They turned around, looked back, and they just kept walking." 

Armstrong said she hadn't put the doormat outside in the past out of fear of  this exact situation.

"But then this year, I found it in the closet and I was like, 'You know what? Let's put it out. We love this mat. I don't want to be the only ones enjoying it inside,'" she said. 

"It took about a week, and it was taken."

The fact that the doormat just happened to have an image of the Grinch seems fitting, Armstrong said. 

"It's funny, the Grinch stole Christmas, and these two Grinches stole our doormat." 

Preventing 'porch pirates' 

Armstrong's home is on a busy street in Etobicoke, and this isn't the first time her family has dealt with porch pirates. 

She said she didn't bother reporting this latest theft to police. 

Thefts of packages and other items from outside people's homes by so-called "porch pirates" are a problem year-round not just in Toronto, but across the Greater Toronto Area, according to York Regional Police.

"It's very easy nowadays for these porch pirates, as we call them, to be going around and finding packages that are left unattended on porches," said Const. James Dixon. 

Dixon said police have investigated cases where people will even follow delivery trucks to nab packages as they're dropped off. 

That being said, Dixon said the chances of having something stolen off your front steps is still relatively low. 

"Thousands of packages are being delivered on our streets every day and very few of these will ever be stolen." 

FedEx spokesperson James Anderson said he thinks tracking packages plays a key role in preventing them from getting stolen.

"Canadians are leveraging tools and being more aware of where their shipments are in the networks," he said. "It's very encouraging to see that you know, we're making headway in boarding the porch pirates." 

As for Armstrong, she has a message for whoever took her doormat. 

"I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, but maybe you'll be getting what you deserve this holiday season," she said. 

"I just don't understand why, why you would want to take it. Take a picture next time."