URBANA – Granny has just about had it with vandals stealing her yard decorations.

The main decoration on the side yard fence of her Urbana home now is a hand-lettered sign saying, "I hope you enjoyed cutting up my bear."

Vandals sliced and ripped open the torso of an inflatable bear holding a flag. It was set up for a patriotic summer display by Jean Pattengale, who lives on North Broadway Avenue and calls herself the neighborhood granny. She sewed up the rip, but is afraid to leave the bear out for fear of more damage.

A blow-up Santa Claus that she displayed during the winter was cut so badly that it could not be repaired.

"I was going to leave it that way, but then I decided that was not fair to the day care kids," Pattengale said. "So I stuffed him with some old pillows I had and set him in a chair."

She was referring to the kids who attend Washington Early Childhood School, north of her house. Some of the teachers take the children on walks past Pattengale's decorated yard, like a field trip.

Andrea Johnston, a teacher of some of the 3- through 5-year-olds, said, "Pretty much as the seasons change, as we're out walking and talking about the seasons, we make a trek around the block to see what her new decorations are. ... We do a lot of counting and colors.

"They loved it when she had a giant chicken in the spring time. Some of our teachers will hatch real chicks and we talked about size concepts and real versus pretend.

"We have 12 classrooms and I know many, many kids who have enjoyed her decorations."

Visitors to the nearby Woodlawn Cemetery and even cancer patients have come by to see the decorated yard and get cheered up, according to Pattengale.

"Everybody calls this 'the happy corner,'" she said.

"Decorating my yard kept me happy," Pattengale said. "I just want people to know that if I don't do it again, this (vandalism) is the reason and it's not because I don't want to."

Pattengale, whose house is across the street from Crystal Lake Park, thinks most of the damage happens between 3:30 and 6 a.m. Now, she has video cameras to document the illegal activity, but without motion-sensor lights, the videos have been too dark for police to make positive identifications.

"I'll get some of those (lights) when I win the lottery," she said.

Pattengale also has had bird and squirrel feeders and statues stolen.

"One of the things they stole was a yard angel I bought in 1980 when my mom passed away from cancer," she said. "That meant a lot to me. I had it set on my porch by my chair for 12 years."

Recent damage has included ripped up and trampled flowers, a broken neck on one of her four plastic swan planter pots and the flattening of a downspout drain.

"What is this side of town coming to?" she asked.

Pattengale has lived in the neighborhood and decorated for 12 years – first at a house she rented on Kerr Avenue and now at a house she rents on Broadway Avenue.

"I started when my kids were at home, and I didn't have a lot of money," she said. "They got a kick out of the decorations. I usually get them on sale after the holidays."

Pattengale has six grown children, with only one son living in town, and six grandchildren.

She said declarations go up for Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

"Halloween is the best one I have," she said. "When the kids see these things, they giggle and I love to hear them come through here."