South Portland police find the ‘Elf on the Shelf.’ Kind of…

In case you don’t have children — or any access to social media — the “Elf on the Shelf” has become a bit of a Christmastime craze in recent years.

The gist is this: During the weeks leading up to Christmas, parents place the signature elf doll in various places around the house after the children go to bed at night, and the kids find the elf when they wake up in the morning.

The story is that the elf is alive, keeps track of the good and bad things the children do every day, and reports back to Santa Claus in the North Pole at night.

As you can imagine, galleries of elf dolls cleverly set up in a variety of positions and miniature scenes have become all the rage on viral websites, and not all of the photos have been PG.

Well, the South Portland Police Department entered the fray this morning, re-posting this popular photograph depicting one particular elf’s fate:

dogs

Those who commented on the post took it in the humorous way it was intended. One said the dogs deserve a commendation for their efforts, and another added a second tongue-in-cheek elf picture to the thread, showing a Buzz Lightyear action figure taping an elf to a cupboard door.

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.