A video posted by a restaurant and tweeted by a Calgary city councillor is earning some playful scorn from social media users Wednesday afternoon.
The video, first posted on Instagram by @DevinMorrison, shows a man stealing two small plants from outside Royale Brasserie, a newly opened restaurant on Calgary’s 17 Avenue S.W.
“Putting out an #apb on this wonderful human who stole our #japanesemaples from @royaleyyc while walking his #jackrussell I know somebody knows this guy!” wrote Morrison in the post. “Any info leading to getting my #trees back will result in an all expense paid night on the town!”
Teatro Restaurant Group operations manager Karen Kho said the video was security footage from the restaurant—though the Inspector Gadget-themed music was likely added later.
She said two Japanese maple trees, at $700 a piece, were stolen at about 3 a.m. Monday—the establishment’s opening day.
Kho said they didn’t call police, and saw the humour and brashness in the act. She said staff thought it was comical to “take something so grand on a casual walk with a dog.”
Kho said the restaurant isn’t trying to shame him, but is trying to curb this type of behaviour.
“We put our heart and soul into things,” she told Global News.
City councillor Evan Woolley tweeted the video Wednesday afternoon, earning responses from social media users including “of all the things to steal…even the trees aren’t safe” and “poor dog is being trained into a life of crime.”
With files from Global’s Shannon Morrow