SANTA MONICA — Santa Monica police and firefighters used ladders and bolt cutters to bring down tree sitter Sabrina LaPaluca from on high. The so-called "Christmas Treehugger" has occupied the Santa Monica landmark since New Year's Eve.  All in all, it was a nightmare before Christmas.

 LaPaluca looked tired yet blissful as she descended from the artificial Christmas tree in the firetruck's ladder. She has repeatedly said that she would practice non-violence if forcibly taken down, and she did. A few well-wishers, however, who had gathered to support LaPaluca to the end pelted authorities with plastic Christmas bulbs, Angelfood cake and nutcrackers.

---

"Who the hell wants to shop where there's this freaky lady in a really bad sweater looking over their shoulders and humming `Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer'?"

 — Main Street merchant

---

A choir of children, gathered from nearby churches, sang "Silent Night" and "Here's Comes Santa Claus" as the famished activist, who had eaten only fruitcake and drank only eggnog during her two-month stay, was led through the crowd and into a police car. LaPaluca was not arrested, but was released into the downtown Santa Monica shopping mall, where it was theorized she could more easily transition back to normal life.

She was joined by her 1 year-old son, Methuselah. "Being without him," said a teary LaPaluca, "really brought home for me how sad it is to be without Christmas for much of the year."

 Lawyers representing the Edgemar cultural and shopping area, where the 30-foot-tall "tree" stood, claimed that that the Christmas treehugger saga was turning away shoppers. "I mean, Jesus, it's almost March!" said one owner who requested anonymity, "who the hell wants to shop where there's this freaky lady in a really bad sweater looking over their shoulders and humming `Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer'"?

 Crews worked late into the night to disassemble the landmark and pack it away until next year.

 As for the plans of the sponsoring organization, Californians for a Greater Christmas, it was not yet known if they would stage another sit-in. The "quasi-Christian, eco-military group" has said that it will go ahead with its plan to put on a Christmas pageant and tour it around elementary schools beginning in June.

 Knowing that legal action was inevitable, the group released a brief statement: "It's their loss. They can take down the tree, but they can't take away the Christmas spirit!Bah-humbug!"them out for weeks before I descend."