CHRISTMAS thieves have struck in Stow, stealing a pub Christmas tree just hours after it went up.

The £40 tree was stolen from outside the front of the Fox Inn in Digbeth Street some time after 1am on Tuesday morning, leaving the pub's owner, Maria Midgley furious. "I was so upset because it looked gorgeous," she said.

The tree was fixed to the wall with a bracket and the thieves would have needed a ladder to steal it. They also escaped with the lights decorating the tree, opening a window to unplug them from a socket indoors.