gnomicide

— “At 4 a.m. they came back. I looked out the door, and they were struggling with the gnome which was tangled in its own wiring. They dashed it to the ground!” Plainly there was some boorish hoodlumism by youths old enough to know better. Then the lady who had charged one of several youths with gnomicide conceded, unfortunately for her: “I didn’t see the face of the man who did the damage — but the police must know. He came from the party anyway.”