Victoria police are on the hunt for “three dark knights” after three full suits of armour, 11 prop swords, three Inquisition helmets and other costume items were stolen from a community theatre company.
“Have you seen a trio of aspiring thespians/thieves re-enacting a scene from Game of Thrones with rather realistic costumes?” police wrote in a statement.
“Kingston crime investigation unit detectives are trying to locate a number of costumes and props stolen from a community theatre company in Heatherton last week.”
The theft from the Cloc Musical Theatre Company is believed to have occurred between 6pm on Thursday and 9am on Friday.
Police said it was likely a group of people were involved because of the number of items stolen.
The theatre manager, Grant Alley, said most of the props came from a production of the musical Man of La Mancha, which tells the story of the “mad” knight Don Quixote and his encounter with the Spanish Inquisition.
He said he had known something was amiss when the legs of a mannequin were found outside the building on Friday morning.
“What has been stolen is irreplaceable,” he said. “There was specialised armour originally made in the US and weaponry of various different types taken, including a collection of swords.
“Why they would steal a couple of mannequins though, I don’t know. On the way out of the building the thieves dropped the bottom half of one. We found its legs outside.”
While the company has not had the armour valued, Alley said he believed it would be worth “thousands”. The building where the costumes were held was the only one in the complex which did not have CCTV cameras installed.
“What’s been taken would have been hard for the average person to know about, or where to find it, so that does make one suspicious about the person having knowledge of the building and the items,” Alley said.
“But then, I suppose it could have just been opportunistic.”
