A group of thieves who stole a $160,000 costume of Sesame Street's 'Big Bird' returned it, leaving a note with an apology for being 'such a big birden'
- A group of thieves returned a stolen "Big Bird" costume valued at $160,000 with an apology note for being "such a big birden."
- The "Big Bird Bandits" stole the costume from the Sesame Street Circus Spectacular in Adelaide, Australia.
- Australian police apprehended three suspects in the incident, who are all scheduled to appear in court later this year.
A group of thieves who stole a $160,000 costume of Sesame Street's Big Bird returned it a few days later with a note in his beak apologizing for being "such a big birden."
Dubbing themselves the "Big Bird Bandits," the thieves stole the giant yellow avian costume in mid-April from the Sesame Street Circus Spectacular in Adelaide, Australia.
"We had no idea what we were doing, or what our actions would cause," the note said. "We were just having a rough time and were trying to cheer ourselfs [sic] up. We had a great time with Mr. Bird, he's a great guy and no harm came to our friend."
"Sorry to be such a big birden!" the note concluded.
South Australia Police (SAPOL) also had a field day with Sesame Street-themed puns when announcing the return of the costume to the circus.
"Update: Big Bird is back! The bright yellow Sesame Street costume recently stolen from a Circus at Thebarton has been returned in the early hours of this morning," they wrote in a tweet. "The suspects if apprehended could face one count of theft… two counts of theft..."
The "Big Bird Bandits" used bolt cutters to access the site and take the costume on April 18, circus director Keith Brown told the Australia Broadcast Corporation. Just days later, the costume was returned to the circus propped up against an electrical box, which Brown said was a "big surprise."
"A concreter on his way to work has seen two gentlemen running from the circus, thought something was wrong, so rang triple-0," Brown told the ABC at the time. "And then he turned his car around to find that they were actually dumping Big Bird on the location."
He added that the two men also returned the sound and electrical equipment inside the costume as well.
"Yesterday, the telephones didn't stop," Brown told the ABC. "I think this is the only reason that we got the costume back, because everybody's got behind us."
Police arrested two suspects in connection to the incident - Tasman Binder, 22, and Cody Milne, 26 - who were charged with theft and unlawfully being on-premises, in late June. Last week, a third and previously unknown suspect, who remained unnamed in a press release, was arrested after she was captured on CCTV footage during the theft. All three suspects are scheduled to appear in court later in the year.