Cookies For All

Thief demands cookies for kids as ransom

A thief who stole an historic golden cookie sculpture from a biscuit firm's HQ has an unusual demand for its safe return.

A German resident who goes by the alias Krümel Monster (Cookie Monster) wants all the children in a local hospital to receive a cookie. The missing statue has stood guard over the Hannover base of biscuit maker Bahlsen for the past century. A person claiming to be the thief sent a ransom note to local media.

"I have the biscuit!" the letter mailed to Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung read. "You want it and therefore you want, on one day in February, to give biscuits to all the children in Bult hospital.

"But those with milk chocolate, not those with dark chocolate and not those without chocolate. And a golden biscuit for the child cancer ward."

Bahlsen has offered a €1,000 (£860) reward for information leading to the thief's arrest, with the Krümel Monster demanding it be donated to a local animal shelter.

A spokesperson for the hospital said that Bahlsen has "already done a lot" for the facility and "doesn't need to be coerced in this way".