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An airport made a Christmas tree out of confiscated items, and it's both festive and educational

An airport made a Christmas tree out of confiscated items, and it's both festive and educational

When you're packing your bags for a trip, there's always that moment where you stop and wonder what you're allowed to bring. How many ounces is it again? One airport had a very simple and effective way to remind people what (literally) flies. The Aviation security officers at Vilnius Airport, aka Lithuania's main airport, wanted to spread a message of airport safety and Holiday cheer. So, they made a Christmas tree entirely out of items confiscated from passengers during security screenings.

"Here at Lithuanian Airports, we are certain that you have seen many different Christmas trees - natural, modern, innovative, and simply quirky. We can guarantee - you haven't seen anything like this," wrote Lithuanian Airports in their LinkedIn post. "With knives, scissors, lighters, blades and all other sorts of dangerous goods on it - this Christmas tree has it all."

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The five-foot-tall tree took two weeks to make, but instead of pine needles, it has scissors. And instead of ornaments and ribbons, it has knives, lighters, matches, and bullets. The tree is topped with a star made entirely out of cheese knives. While airport security did confiscate guns (seriously, you shouldn't even need a tree to know you can't travel with them), they opted to hang cardboard cutouts of guns instead of the real deal.

The tree got some attention on Twitter, as did the massive amount of scissors.







Vilnius Airport security confiscated so many scissors that they were able to make an entire tree base out of them. Airport security has a theory as to why they have so many. "We suppose, that there is so many scissors because travelers don't know that it's prohibited to take them on board," Marius Zelenius, Lithuanian Airports' Head of Communication, told Mashable. It all ties into the theme of the tree, which is to educate passengers on what you can't pack in your bags. "So, with this Christmas tree we want to grab the attention and to show what kind of things are prohibited to carry on a plane," Zelenius continued.

"[I]f you don't want your personal, yet prohibited, belongings to land on our next year's Christmas tree - better check out the baggage requirements before you pack for your next flight. Safe travels!" Lithuanian Airports concluded their LinkedIn post.

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It does seem as if people do need to have the helpful reminder. Here in the U.S., 4,239 firearms were confiscated in airports in 2018. That's an average of 81.6 firearms per week, and 11.6 per day. Seriously, how do people not know better?

Lithuanian airport security is different from the TSA in America, however many of the same items are prohibited from traveling in both countries. But in the off chance you do have any questions, you can always consult the Christmas tree.

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