Moment ‘grinch’ on an e-bike snatches Nutcracker statue

Masked e-bike thieves normally speed up behind you to snatch your phone but this one got a little bit festive.

A bar owner is desperately searching for his beloved £900 Nutcracker statue, which was brazenly snatched by a thief.

Video shows the thief struggling to load the eight-foot statue onto his bike in George Street, Edinburgh at 10pm on Tuesday.

The masked suspect is seen yanking the festive decoration from outside Copper Blossom cocktail bar as shoppers walk past.

The man pushes over furniture and breaks a £350 table.

He struggles but manages to balance the 13kg soldier on the middle of his bike and make a slow and unstable getaway.

The Copper Blossom team is now calling for the festive statue named Nolan to be returned and reunited with his fellow Nutcracker soldier Nelson, which together form part of the venue’s seasonal display.

Nelson is now being stored securely indoors.

Every Christmas, the bar’s festive displays draw crowds of people looking to capture the perfect photos with the life-size decorations which date back to the 17th Century.

Manager Paul Paxton told BBC Scotland: ‘We were still open and had just stacked up all the outdoor furniture in front of the statue five minutes beforehand.

‘He cycles up on his e-bike and it all happens in the space of a minute, it’s so fast.

‘He pushed everything aside and pulls the tables over and one falls and breaks and then he yanks the Nutcracker away.

‘He falls off his bike once while trying to put it on and struggles to lay it horizontally across him.

‘It’s an 8ft statue horizontally across a little e-bike. The people on the street didn’t really bat an eyelid.’

The crime has been recorded on CCTV and footage shared with Police Scotland to investigate.

Police Scotland said inquiries were at an early stage.