A couple have been labelled ‘shameless’ after being caught on CCTV appearing to swipe a tiger mascot from a bar.
The footage shows the bloke trying to act as a shield, while his female partner stuck the mascot in her coat. The pub’s landlady, Ruth Stevens, is now pleading for its safe return.
Ruth and her husband Craig, 43, poured their time and money into opening Truth Bar in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, earlier this year, splurging £40,000 on animal-themed decor.
The 40-year-old mum-of-two first noticed that the bronze tiger, lovingly named Tony, had been nabbed last Monday night. It wasn’t until she searched CCTV footage for clues that she discovered the two punters had made off with him the Friday night before.
The footage shows a man and woman sitting in a corner seat in the bar, when they appear to spot the tiger. They can be seen discussing something, then the male turns his back as if to shield his partner before they walk out with the ornament hidden under a coat.
Now Ruth has urged the duo to hand back Tony, who sits in the bar alongside his other animal 'relatives'. She has vowed there'll be 'no questions asked' and has not informed police, as she hopes the couple will return it.
Ruth, from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, has called the pair’s robbery “shameless”.
“We've made a light-hearted joke of it, saying we need Tony back, but we're serious about getting him back,” she said. “You just can't take things that don't belong to you.”
Ruth said the thieves hadn’t seemed drunk making the robbery even more strange.
"They didn't even wait until they'd finished - they took it half way through their drinks.” she said.
The owners now simply wanted to be able to return Tony to his “brothers and sisters” - Marvin the Monkey, Marcel, another monkey, Geoffrey the Giraffe, Tommy the Toucan, and Polly the Parrot.
Each of the mascots were quite expensive, she said, with Tony costing around £50.
"We want him to come back home,” Ruth said.
Ruth and Craig took on the bar in the pandemic and opened in May, settling on an animal theme and going out to local interior shops to buy various creatures to hide around.
Ruth said they had “never seen the couple before”, despite the cafe being in a small town and them often having repeat customers.
"I'm hoping these people see this and return him back, no questions asked,” she said.
"I've had an email off someone on Wednesday saying she saw the post and asked 'do you have any more images? He looks like someone I used to know'. That's all I've had back.
"They're just like one offs so it's not like I can get a repeat - it's whatever they have in at the time.
"A lot of effort, money and time has gone into this for people to come and enjoy it.
"I keep checking the steps to see if he's been returned but he's not yet. There's a space waiting for him in the bar."
