AUSTIN, Texas -- Christmas decorations at a family's home in Texas caused panic to a passerby.
The Heerlein family just wanted to win their neighborhood holiday decorating contest when they put up a display paying homage to a scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation earlier this week, according to KVUE.
The display depicts the scene where Clark Griswold hangs from the roof of his home while trying to hang Christmas lights.
The family reportedly purchased a dummy online and put a Clark Griswold mask on it, as well as dressed it in Clark-inspired clothing.
Chris Heerlein hung the dummy from their family's roof and positioned a ladder underneath it to look like the ladder was tipping over, said KVUE.
The next day a passerby reportedly saw the display and panicked, thinking a real person was hanging from the gutter.
KVUE said that the passerby yelled "HELP!" to people driving past and even called 911.
"I was trying to get him down anyway I can. Except when I started talking to him, he never said nothing!" the passerby told KVUE.
Police reportedly came to the home and said that they had seen displays like this one previously and were getting calls about it.
Since then, the family added a sign to the bottom of the display that explains the decoration for anyone else who might be concerned.
The family has also reached out to the passerby to thank him for his concern, according to KVUE. They even gave him a gift card as an apology.
