The lawyer spoke about the responsibility for stealing decorations from public Christmas trees.

Removing Christmas decorations from a street tree may result in administrative or criminal liability, depending on the value of the stolen item and related circumstances. This was announced on Thursday, January 15, by Albert Khaleyan, a criminal lawyer, partner of the Moscow bar Association Vector Prime, mediator at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"Public property should not be treated as ownerless. The decoration is based on the budget, the work of public utilities and the general festive mood of the townspeople. Jewelry theft is an offense, the consequences of which can be severe. A criminal record or administrative punishment can close many opportunities in the future, especially for young people," he said in an interview with Gazeta.Ru».

He explained that the key factor for a legal assessment is the price of stolen property. If the value of the jewelry removed does not exceed 2.5 thousand rubles, the actions can be classified as petty theft under art. 7.27 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, the violator faces a fine, compulsory labor or administrative arrest for up to 15 days.

If the specified amount is exceeded, criminal liability is incurred under Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Theft"). At the same time, as Khaleyan noted, the cost of New Year's balls or other decorations is estimated not at the retail price in the store, but taking into account their status as an element of the official urban composition.

The lawyer added that even several items removed from the public Christmas tree could collectively be valued at an amount sufficient to initiate criminal proceedings. Additional risks arise in case of damage to the decoration — wood, garlands, frame or other structures. In such a situation, actions can be classified as vandalism under Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation or intentional damage to property under Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

According to the expert, in practice, the outcome of such cases largely depends on the position of the municipality as the owner of the property, as well as on the behavior of the violator himself. Among the mitigating circumstances, he called voluntary surrender, compensation for damages and remorse, while an aggravating factor may be, for example, the commission of an offense by a group of persons.

Fir trees are noticeable: Russian-style Christmas trees have become the most important trend of the season

Candies and garlands of sheep are used as decorations.

On December 18, 2025, Alexander Khaminsky, a lawyer and head of the Law Enforcement Center in Moscow and the Moscow Region, told Russians about a fine of up to 15,000 rubles for decorating workplaces for the New Year if this process was carried out without observing fire safety rules. The specialist stated that the decoration of the workplace should be coordinated with the management or the labor protection service and use safe decor, such as paper or textile decorations that do not require an electrical connection.

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