'Pathetic' and 'Pitiful' Christmas Tree Is Ruining a City's Holiday Spirit — So They're Dumping It

READING, Pa. (TheBlaze/AP) — A Christmas tree called "nasty" and "pathetic" and "pitiful" is getting kicked to the curb a little early after residents of a Pennsylvania town complained about it.

And their beef? It's too ugly.

Image source: WFMZ-TV

Reading's spindly 50-foot spruce drew the ire of residents who said it was ruining their holiday spirit.

"It's nasty, it's pathetic, and they shouldn't have it here," one onlooker told WFMZ-TV in Allentown, adding that even a squirrel looking for place to live for the winter wouldn't touch the tree.

"It does look a little pitiful, very sad," another observer told the station.

Image source: WFMZ-TV

Now a group led by the city council president is raising money to buy and decorate a more impressive replacement. The current tree is topped with a lighted pretzel, a nod to the area's many bakeries.

Image source: WFMZ-TV

The puny pine was a last-minute stand-in taken from a city park. The city had planned to get its tree from a farm, but the owner wouldn't let the crews drive on the wet ground when they went to pick it up.

Officials are hoping to have a do-over tree lighting ceremony next weekend.

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But the tree may find a home yet. WFMZ reported that representatives from Reading car dealership were interested in saving the embattled tree — they were even making a tree skirt in the hopes they can muster some holiday spirit from it after all.

We all know what Charlie Brown would say: