A brazen theft has seen to that.

Two weeks ago Ms Richardson put up Christmas lights that had belonged to her father, who died in May.

But last Thursday, an intruder who allegedly tried to break into Ms Richardson's yard pulled down the lights and supporting poles and netting.

Three sets of lights were destroyed.

When Ms Richardson's son heard someone outside and raised the alarm, the intruder ran off with the poles.

The lights would be valued in the hundreds of dollars, Ms Richardson said. But to her, they were worth so much more.

"Put it this way, I couldn't even put a price on it," she said.

"My dad used to decorate his house. He had decorated for 12 years and we were doing it this year in memory of dad."

But, she said the family was determined not to let the break-in spoil their Christmas.

"(My partner) Wayne was devastated," Ms Richardson said.

"But he woke up the next morning and said, `No I'm not going to have them defeat me in doing that'."

The family managed to fix one set of lights and Ms Richardson had also bought a couple more sets to put up.

Ballarat Police Acting Sergeant David Collins said a man had been charged with burglary and possession of proceeds of crime.

He was bailed to appear in Ballarat Magistrates Court on January 21. All of the items allegedly stolen had been returned to their owners, Act Sgt Collins said.