(DNAINFO)  Megan Cerullo | November 27, 2015 — This year, it didn’t take a grinch to steal Christmas in The Bronx.

The Belmont Business Improvement District has had to forego its annual Christmas tree and tree lighting ceremony this year, after an influx in homeless panhandlers forced them to hire a full-time security guard, they said.

“We aren’t doing it this year because it’s very expensive and we have had so many problems with vagrants that we had to hire security,” said Frank Franz, the treasurer for the Belmont Business Improvement District.

Source: Arthur Avenue Christmas Tree Lighting Canceled Amid Homeless Surge – Belmont – DNAinfo.com New York