Holiday traditions bring out the best in some people but the worst in others.

When a farmer’s Christmas tree lot became an easy target for seasonal thieves, he thought up a solution that left an unforgettable impression.

You’ll want to read on for this one!

Xmas three thieves

An old neighbor from a few houses back was a farmer, and among other things, he farmed Christmas trees.

These trees are a multi-year crop.

You plant one year and harvest several years down the line.

So, he had different areas for the different years.

But soon the farmer ran into some trouble with some bad actors.

There was one area near the road, and some people had found that just cutting down a tree in that area, tossing it onto the roof of their car, and finding something else to spend the money on was an easy way to get a free tree.

This hurt his business in more ways than one.

Anyway, he got tired of this.

It was messing with his business and forecast, not to mention the thieves didn’t mind causing collateral damage when stealing a tree.

So he cooked up a clever plan to stop the thievery.

So one fall, nearing Christmas time, when the ground had set and he was certain the frost would remain, he got out the manure spreader.

He mixed the organic manure extra thin and sprayed the trees in the area near the road.

(These trees weren’t scheduled to be used that year, and rain would rinse this off by spring.)

It turns out, the plan was even more potent than he expected.

This mixture doesn’t smell as long as it’s frozen.

If you were to bring a tree covered in it inside, that would change…

For some reason, that was the last year anyone stole his trees.

No one wants a tree that smells like manure — even if it’s free!

What did Reddit think?

The barrier to entry on real Christmas tree is just a bit too high for some.

This user finds the story extremely satisfying.

Apparently there’s another equally gross way to keep thieves away from these trees.

His forecast for next year’s crop looked a lot better, but these thieves’ living room smelled a whole lot worse!

Turns out, the stench of poor decisions can really bring down one’s holiday spirit.

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.