Barring another Christmas miracle, it appears thieves have stolen the holiday cheer from the Pagdilao family of 'Ewa Beach.

Since 1983, the Pagdilaos have brought joy not only to children in their own neighborhood, but also to children in other O'ahu communities with their 2-ton, 30-foot Santa sleigh float. The sleigh used to be powered by an old Ford pickup, but after the truck's engine broke down, it had to be towed in parades from 2001 to 2004.

An Advertiser story in November 2004 led to the donation of an engine for the truck.

The Pagdilaos' anticipation of another busy holiday season, starting with an appearance in a Waikiki parade the day after Thanksgiving, turned to gloom Tuesday when they discovered the sleigh had been vandalized.

John Pagdilao was shocked and heartbroken when he saw the damage to the sleigh, which is stored in a Quonset hut near the horse stables in Kalaeloa. He won't be able to assess the total damage until tomorrow but suspects the engine is gone.

"The way it looks, I don't think we'll be able to make fixes in time," Pagdilao said. "The cloud's on the side, the lights have been ripped off."

One of the nine homemade reindeer also was destroyed, he said.

"We'll try to salvage something. I feel like whoever did this should have known that when you see a Christmas float, it's something that makes people happy. If you have a heart, why would you do this?"

Pagdilao had gone down to check on the sleigh, which used to be parked at the family's Pohakupuna Road home, to begin prep work on it.

"I had to come home and tell my mom (Honorata 'Helen' Pagdilao) and that was hard," he said. "We still want to do it but I don't know if we can."

The disappointment is compounded by the fact that Pagdilao's sister, Madeline Wicklund of San Francisco, had arranged for her three young children to come to Honolulu to see the sleigh for the first time.

The late Andres Pagdilao, an immigrant from the Philippines who was a mechanic for 'Ewa Plantation, adopted the Santa sleigh as a family project in 1983 to revive what had been a community tradition.

Ewa Sugar Co. used to have an annual Christmas parade, but after the plantation shut down, there was no parade from 1972 to 1982.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.