‘Cookie Monster’ Thief Sends Second Ransom Note; Charitable Crook Wants To Return Bronze Biscuit

In a rather bizarre heist, someone stole a bronze biscuit from a sculpture outside of Bahlsen's headquarters in Hannover, Germany. An image of an individual dressed as Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster holding the stolen biscuit was attached to the first ransom note. But a second ransom note was released Monday, and the thief seems to have had a change of heart.

Hanging outside the German headquarters of Bahlsen, a company that produces cookies, biscuits cakes and other treats, is a sculpture of two men holding a bronze biscuit, the Leibniz-Keks butter biscuit that Bahlsen manufactures. An individual sent a photo and a ransom note, made from cut-out letters from newspapers and magazines, to the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. The Cookie Monster thief sent the ransom note to the newspaper on Jan. 29, and the demands were rather unusual.

Apparently, the thief does not want money. According to the ransom note, the thief wanted Bahlsen to “give all the children (at a local children's hospital) milk chocolate cookies on one day in February -- and not dark chocolate ... and a golden cookie for the children in the cancer ward. ... signed, Cookie Monster,” reports Spiegel Online.

The Cookie Monster also wanted $1,400 to be donated to an animal charity, reports Reuters. Since the ransom note went public, Bahlsen has responded and offered to donate 52,000 biscuits to charity for the safe return of the bronze biscuit, reports Reuters.

In the second ransom note sent to Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, Cookie Monster wants to simply return the biscuit, dropping his previous demands. It seems the thief was touched by Bahlsen CEO Werner Michael Bahlsen’s plea for the bronze biscuit’s return. In the second ransom note, the thief writes, “Because Werni loves the biscuit as much as I do and now always cries and misses the biscuit so badly, I'm giving it back to him!!!,” reports Spiegel Online.

It’s still unclear if the person in the photo stole the biscuit, reports The Associated Press. German police are still investigating the theft and Bahlsen has yet to respond to the second ransom note.