This is the bizarre moment a Grinch on an e-bike made off with a £900 nutcracker statue after stealing it from outside a cocktail bar.
The figure was taken from outside Copper Blossom on George Street in Edinburgh city centre on Monday evening.
CCTV footage shows a hooded man picking up the 8ft statue and almost falling off his bike while doing so, breaking one of the bar’s £350 tables in the process.
As he cycled off with the stolen soldier, it is seen bashing a bollard, with the man almost falling off his bike again.
The incident was reported to Police Scotland at around 1pm the next day.
On Friday, general manager Paul Paxton said: ‘It has completely vanished. We’ve got the police coming to see us today so hopefully we’ll hear a little bit more about it.
‘We have had some messages come in from people saying they’ve spotted him a few kilometres away from the venue.’
The festive statue, named Nolan, was twinned with fellow nutcracker Nelson, and they together formed a key part of the venue’s Christmas display.
Mr Paxton has attempted to find the statue for sale online, and said he does not know why it was stolen in the first place.
This is the bizarre moment a Grinch on an e-bike made off with an 8ft nutcracker statue after stealing it from outside a cocktail bar
The figure was taken from outside Copper Blossom on George Street in Edinburgh city centre on Monday evening
CCTV footage shows a hooded man picking up the £900 statue and almost falling off his bike while doing so, breaking one of the bar’s £350 tables in the process
He said: ‘I’ve got no idea what he’ll use it for.
‘I was looking at Facebook Marketplace to see if it would pop up, but no luck.’
The venue has said if Nolan is returned willingly, no further action will be taken.
Asked if he believes this will happen, he said: ‘He’s going to have to bring it back on the bike and put himself out there a bit, so I don’t think it’ll be returned.’
He added: ‘Some of the comments online are absolutely wild and so funny, so we’ve tried to keep it light-hearted, but also keep it professional.’
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: ‘Around 1pm on Tuesday November 25, we received a report of a theft from a premises on George Street, Edinburgh.
‘Inquiries are at an early stage.’
It comes after last year a series of vandalism incidents involving Christmas lights and other festive decorations outside homes took place around Suffolk.
A total of 11 properties were targeted in a single night, leading police to suspect the incidents were linked.
Doorbell camera footage shows a man in a balaclava sneaking up on one house before cutting the colourful lights draped outside.
Another video from a separate incident shows two men slashing a string of lights.
As he cycled off with the stolen soldier, it is seen bashing a bollard, with the man almost falling off his bike again
The remaining Christmas Nutcracker statue at Copper Blossom on Edinburgh’s George Street
All the incidents took place overnight on December 5, 2024 in five villages within a few miles of each other, with the suspect, or suspects, disappearing into the night afterwards.
‘Mortified’ Luke McGann, 35, of Great Finborough had the wires to his Christmas lights snipped and a snow globe projector stolen between 8.00pm-9.30pm.
‘We’ve done Christmas lights for nearly 20 years here at our property, me and my mum,’ he said.
‘We just do it for fun because we like to see the kids come past and the cars pull up and having a look at them.
‘We had a brand-new set of lights. It was about £100 altogether and somebody came into our garden and snipped the wires right by the front door handle.
‘It wasn’t just one snip – there were three separate breaks in the chain, so they really hacked at it.’
