Enola Gay Carrasco's first Christmas in her new home won't be the same without Rudolph.
The 5-foot-tall red-nosed reindeer was stolen from the front porch of her bungalow on Overbrook Road in Idlewylde yesterday morning.
It had been Rudolph's first weekend on the job. Mrs. Carrasco bought the solid wood decoration just weeks earlier at a %J Timonium crafts fair.
The reindeer rustler also walked off with a lighted Santa flag and an extension cord.
"We woke up and I was crying and my 9-year-old daughter Angela was crying," said Mrs. Carrasco, a former Rosedale resident. "You buy a house and you have a lot of pride. You want it to look nice. They really shot that down."
Mrs. Carrasco, 34, who was named for a grandmother and not the famous World War II bomber, said the reindeer should be easy to spot. It has a red light for a nose and wears a "Happy Holidays" sign around its neck.
The family was just as unhappy to lose the flag with the miniature white lights stitched inside. The Carrascos bought it in Lancaster, Pa., this year and they plan to return there soon to replace it.
"It's not like they're worth a lot of money, but it's the spirit of the thing," she said. "I thought I had moved into a good neighborhood."
Baltimore County police officers visited her house yesterday, dusting her porch and a Zima bottle for fingerprints. The thief apparently was picky -- leaving behind an ordinary 3-foot-tall candy cane in the front yard.
"They just wanted unique things, I guess," Mrs. Carrasco said.
Mrs. Carrasco and her husband, Chris, are grocery store clerks. The newlyweds bought the three-bedroom home in August.