Udderly Strange! Thief Makes Off With Iconic Cow From Local Ice Cream Shop

PASADENA (CBS) — There are crimes of passion and crimes of the heart -- but rarely do you have a crime involving the theft of a plastic cow.

Until now. How now stolen cow?

The cow was a small plastic fixture at Mother Moo Creamery, a local ice cream shop in Sierra Madre.

The owner tells KCAL9 and CBS2 reporter Edward Lawrence that kids loved her.

Police have released surveillance video showing the bovine bandit.

And the owner tells Lawrence he has no idea why someone would want to steal the figurine.

Sierra Madre police said an unidentified woman came to the front of the store about 12:30 in the morning.

And it's all residents in the area can talk about.

Lawrence spoke to resident Kevin Wheeler who called the crime "an utter travesty."

Linda Grayvill, also a resident, said "It's not cool. That they just picked it up and walked off with it."

A sign written by a child will hopefully moo-ve, uh, move the thief to return the cow. The note sits in the spot where the cow once stood. Other messages, urging the cow's safe return, are dotted around the store.

Says Grayvill, "We are hoping that somebody gives it somebody else to take it back. We just want it back."

The owner of Mother Moo Creamery, Karen Klemens, opened the store about nine months ago.

"I would dress the cow for various events," she recalls, "one of them was Mardi Gras Moo. Then another time for the Wisteria Festival. For Easter, we had Easter egg earrings. It's like part of the store, the fabric of the store."

Klemens hoped to have an official Name Moo Contest this summer but now she can't do that until the cow comes home.

"Drop it off," she says, pleading, "no questions asked. Drop it off at Kersting Court. Anywhere. Don't put it in the dumpster. Don't throw it away. Don't have it in your bedroom."

Sierra Madre police have released a picture of the cow napper. Says Len Hundshamer of the Sierra Madre police, "We are hoping to get some people to identify this individual. Hopefully to get them to come in and return this valued item."