Breda municipality ordered Esmeralda Melgert to remove Halloween decorations from the public sidewalk outside her home in the Tuinzigt district by noon on 27 October, shortly before the neighborhood’s Halloween celebrations. The decorations include a 3.35-metre skeleton and imitation boulders; Melgert said she had spent about 10,000 euros on them. The municipality stated that it had identified no actual danger or nuisance, but said part of the installation was on municipal land without a permit.

Melgert called the order bullying and said the decorations were due to be dismantled after the celebrations on 30 October. The organizers of the neighborhood event also objected to the timing. The municipality said the interest in enforcement outweighed keeping the decorations in place and warned that it could remove them at her expense if she did not comply.