A Dundee businessman has offered a reward for the safe return of Santa Claus after the £500 figurine was taken from a city venue.
CCTV has captured the moment a 5ft Santa was uprooted from its position at the entrance of The Caird last night.
Two people appear to make off with the decoration shortly before midnight as they fled towards the direction of the Queens Hotel.
Police Scotland have confirmed officers are investigating.
Staff at the Nethergate business also discovered the Nutcracker had been damaged with a band pole taken just minutes before.
Owner Jimmy Marr says he is “disappointed” by the situation and has released CCTV images to try and track down those responsible.
‘We’ve issued a reward’
He added: “It’s clearly a stupid prank and I don’t think Mr Claus will be too far away from the venue.
“A lot of hours had been taken to get the place decorated so we are disappointed he’s been taken so soon after being installed.
“Santa is quite lightweight but the Nutcracker was also damaged. There has been around £1,000 spent on these items.
“We’ve issued a reward for Santa’s safe return.”
‘We’ve contacted police’
Jimmy Marr’s operations manager, Gerry Mooney, confirmed they have contacted police.
He added: “It appears it’s the same group are involved in both incidents. You can see them running up the steps before they take the band pole.
“There are two guys and one girl that were caught on camera at around 11.40pm and you can see them taking the band pole.
“I would have placed them at around 20 years old. The girl and one of the males comes back minutes later and lifts Santa Claus.
“They wait as two customers move away from the door before lifting him up and this has all happened within five or six hours of Santa being installed at the venue.
“We’ve contacted police regarding the matter as we’ll need to start the process for insurance reasons.”
Police investigating report of theft
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received a report that Christmas decorations had been stolen from The Caird in Nethergate, Dundee, on Thursday, November 25.
“The incident is believed to have happened around 11.40pm on Wednesday, November 24.
“Local officers are scheduled to meet with the reporter to gather more information.
“If anyone has any information about this, please contact us on 101 quoting incident 0864 of November 25.”
