Thieves chopped down a living tree adorned with festive coloured lights in front of a home in Kingston, Ont., less than three days before Christmas.

"For us, this would clearly be an all-time low," said Kingston police Const. Michael Menor. "This was actually growing in somebody's front yard."

Only a stump remained in front of the family's Pine Street home on Wednesday morning — even the Christmas lights were gone.

Police estimated the pine tree was about 2½ metres tall and 10 to 15 years old. They are hoping someone may have seen what happened and will contact police.

But Menor acknowledged the tree's life can't be saved at this point.

"The reality is this is probably in somebody's living room, and even if it was found — whether it's in a park or thrown away at some point later — the damage is clearly done."

Menor said thieves sometimes cut off the tops of mature trees to get the "perfect Christmas tree" but don't usually take off with an entire tree.