It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, largely thanks to the university's preparations for Christmas on Campus (COC).

But even as the bushes and lampposts sparkle with white lights, and a family of snowmen greets students on the ground floor of KU, the Christmas spirit has been slightly marred by the recent disappearance of a few decorations.

When COC kicks off each year at the beginning of November, KU comes alive with a vast array of decorations. After the kickoff, most of the decorations quickly come down. One of the key items left, however, is a decorated Christmas tree which stands near the adopt-a-kid table in the first floor lobby. This year, the nine-foot artificial tree was donated by Jenna Davis, a UD alumna who knew that COC would make good use of her extra tree.

The tree was still on display in the lobby the day before Thanksgiving, but when students returned from the recess, the tree had mysteriously vanished. A report was filed with Public Safety and Lou Talbott, director of student involvement and leadership, sent out a mass e-mail to the student body informing them of the situation and requesting the timely return of the tree.

The tree reappeared in the KU lobby over this last weekend largely intact. The whereabouts of the tree during its missing period are still unknown, but it is suspected that it was moved into Barrett Dining Hall accidentally. In another mass e-mail sent out Tuesday announcing the tree's discovery, Talbott noted that the COC committee was very happy that the tree was returned to its home unharmed.

In addition to the decorations in KU, the COC committee hangs red and green banners from the lampposts on campus to advertise the event. The banners had been newly purchased this year. During Friday's high winds, two of the banners were knocked loose and fell to the ground. One of the banners was discovered, but the other could not be found. As of Tuesday, the whereabouts of the missing banner had been determined and a student was planning to return it to the COC committee.

These minor disappearances, and the discovery of stolen strands of lights, are disheartening to the students, faculty, staff and volunteers who work to make COC a success.

'A lot of people have put a lot of hard work into this,' said Anna Young, assistant coordinator of COC. 'It would be nice if things were not stolen.'

UD Facilities Management dedicates a large amount of time to decorating campus. They are responsible for such things as stringing lights and hanging bulbs on the large, outdoor Christmas trees. This year, the students in the DECA program also worked to decorate the inside of KU. They hung silver bells from the ceiling, assembled the snowmen display and wrapped the display cases throughout the building. Many of the DECA students are 'alumni' of the adopt-a-kid program.

'They were so excited to help decorate and they were such a big help,' said COC coordinator Sandy Borchers. 'It's nice to see Christmas on Campus come full circle.'

This spirit of help and excitement is what the COC committee wants to focus on, not the disappearance of decorations.

'We don't want people to think we're completely bummed about the recent thefts,' Young said. 'We're still really excited about Christmas on Campus. It's going to be great this year.'