A row of Christmas trees in St. Petersburg have drawn comparisons to robed Ku-Klux Klansmen for white protective covers resembling hoods with pairs of black eyes painted on.
Photographs circulated on social media late last week showing the pine trees dressed in traditional white bags used to protect them from harsh winters.
But these covers also had an untraditional characteristic: black eyes.
“It feels like these trees are after you,” a voice is heard saying as a camera pans to show the trees “staring back” at the viewer in the dark.
Online users saw a resemblance between the hooded trees and the KKK, a comparison that got picked up by news outlets across Russia. Some described the sighting as “ghost Christmas trees.”
By the weekend, communal service workers were filmed painting the eyes white.
