Montville — Some traditions never break.

Such is the case in Montville this Christmas season, where a picture-perfect evergreen near an I-395 on-ramp along Route 163 finds itself trimmed and decorated as if by commando elves in the night.

For more than a dozen years, Jeff Roderick and his daughter Theresa Quibble celebrated the season by decorating the roadside tree in secret. The pair, who officially announced they were the mystery decorators last year, operated late at night or early in the morning, when there were fewer cars on the busy stretch of road and less likelihood of being spotted.

They gave up the tradition last year, noting they were worried about highway ramp traffic and saying they hoped to find a new tree to dress up in a safer spot.

But someone in Montville has taken up the mantle.

"I don't know who did it," an excited Roderick said in an interview this week. "The mystery is a mystery again."

He added with a laugh that many locals don't believe him this year, despite the fact that he suffered an injury more than a year ago in an accident as a caretaker on Fisher's Island.

"We didn't do it," swore Roderick, 63. "I think it's dangerous. But it's beautiful. I consider it a tribute and an honor."

Quibble, 32, became Roderick's partner in clandestine Christmas cheer a few years after he started the tradition.

"I was a teenager or maybe even a pre-teen in middle school," she said of the early days. "I thought he was insane, but it didn't really surprise me. There were times during my teen years when I said, 'Aw, man, we have to do this tree again?' But then we'd put Christmas music on and it became our thing. That tree has way more meaning to me than anyone would know, even during the summer. It's a special tree."

As the years went on, life, work and family made it impossible to decorate the tree as covertly. So over the last five or six years, they've garnered a good deal of waves, honks and thanks from people driving by.

"We're both attention junkies, I guess," Roderick admitted. "There is no better bond between me and my kid."

As for the new decorators, the pair recently caught wind of a few potential unidentified suspects, but they're mostly in the dark.

"I heard it was four to six people who ran over quickly," Quibble said. "I did hear that some people saw them, so somebody out there has an idea who it is, but we don't know. Now we get to understand what everybody else felt. It's a mystery to us, too."

Roderick said he heard it was a handful of adults who "went in, bang-bang, and put ornaments up. They had a stealth plan."

The tree continues to create buzz on social media a year after Quibble said she "had tons of people reach out and say 'Thank you' and how they look forward to it all year."

Roderick, who described the Montville tree as a sad-looking Charlie Brown sapling when he started decorating and grooming it about 17 years ago, keeps a collection of ornaments, letters, cards and poetry passersby have left on the tree each season.

"It's been very rewarding over the years," he said. "It's made me feel good that we could give a little back."

Roderick noted while he and his daughter took the lead, in many ways the Montville community already has contributed to the tree over the years.

"Friends of mine give me ornaments," he said. "I had one woman stop by there and give me $20. I told her 'There'll be five more ornaments on soon that you bought.'"

Roderick and Quibble said they hope whoever is carrying on the tradition does so with an eye out for cars buzzing by.

"We just hope it's done carefully and that nothing happens negatively to such a positive thing," Quibble said. "It's made such a huge impact and people don't want it to go away."

They also hope the tree remains groomed and someday ends up providing onlookers at Rockefeller Center or the White House a piece of Montville goodwill.

"I'm proud of this town, man," Roderick said. "Merry Christmas, Montville."

b.kail@theday.com