In a small Pennsylvania town, a statue of the iconic Ronald McDonald was stolen in broad daylight from the town’s only McDonald’s restaurant. The local police are now on the hunt for the culprits behind this audacious theft, which they have humorously dubbed a “McNapping.”
The statue, which portrays the famous red-haired mascot in his signature bright yellow uniform, was taken by four young individuals, according to surveillance footage released by the Nesquehoning Police Department. The footage shows the suspects making a swift exit with the statue of Ronald McDonald.
The Nesquehoning Police Department took to Facebook to express their determination to solve the case, stating, “We’re not clowning around. This was a full-blown McNapping. Ronald was last seen smiling, as usual, unaware of the betrayal. Witnesses say he didn’t even put up a fight.” They added a light-hearted warning to the suspects, “We get it — times are tough, and therapy is expensive. But kidnapping a plastic icon of joy? That’s a McFelony.”
The police are appealing to the public for help in locating the missing statue, suggesting that it might be found “at a party, passenger seat of a car, or sitting awkwardly in someone’s yard.” The suspects were last seen fleeing the scene in a black car with an unreadable license plate.
The theft is particularly notable as few McDonald’s restaurants still feature the company’s old mascots. Over the past decade, many McDonald’s locations across the country have modernized their interiors, which often involved removing statues of characters like Ronald McDonald and Grimace. However, Grimace has recently seen a resurgence in popularity following the release of a milkshake named in his honor in 2022.
This is not the first time a Ronald McDonald statue has been targeted. In 2017, a life-sized statue was stolen from a McDonald’s in New Jersey. Prior to that, a statue in Vermont was vandalized, with the figure decapitated and its feet sawed off. In 2019, a Ronald McDonald statue was controversially used in an art piece titled “McJesus,” which sparked religious protests in Israel.
Interestingly, a statue identical to the stolen one is currently listed for sale on eBay for $2,500. The pickup location is in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, just an hour’s drive from Nesquehoning.