A thief has stolen a bunch of cookies, complete with the jar, from a shop in Auckland — likely without realising the cookies were for display and made of plastic.
CCTV footage from the Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar on Cavendish Drive in Auckland’s Manukau showed the sweet-toothed swiper crouching down to creep into the store, grabbing the caramilk-labelled display jar from the counter and making their escape.
Chief cookie officer Deanna Yang told 1News a staff member was just pulling some fresh cookies out of the oven when the theft took place between 6pm and 6.30pm on January 18.
“You could see her crouching down to sneak in, to steal the fake cookie jar,” she said.
“My staff member did say something and, as soon as she left, she actually went out to check, but she was already gone.”
Yang said she bought the jars 12 years ago when she first opened the business and was struggling to find an exact replacement to match.
“This photos a little bit funny because after it happened, there was no jar, obviously… So they just have, like, this tupperware container,” she laughed.
She said plastic cookie thefts were “not common” but it has happened before.
“We actually did have somebody try to eat the fake display at our K Road store before as well.
“I think they must have been drunk, but they just picked it up and put it in their mouth and we got that on surveillance footage as well,” she laughed.
Yang said she understood people were struggling with the cost of living but that was no excuse to steal from small businesses.
“We always love to give back to the community, but I guess small theft like this — even though it seems quite small — businesses are doing it rough.
“So it can make staff or businesses feel a bit vulnerable and worried because, if it can happen on a small scale, it can happen on a big scale too.”
A police report has been filed and anyone with information could contact police online, or by calling 105 and using reference number OR-1821822N with any report.