POLICE are working on a large pencil case after two eight foot pencils were stolen by merry punters outside a bar.
The giant pencils were swiped from outside Carroll’s Bar on Dominick Street in Galway in Ireland, during the Cúirt International Festival of Literature yesterday.
The festival has now revealed that police managed to recover one of the giant decorative stationery items but are still looking for leads to find the other one.
CCTV footage from the bar shows a man holding an inside out-umbrella before walking up to the enormous item that was fitted over the top of a bollard.
Recorded at 1.45am, the pesky punter begins wrestling with the yellow and blue display piece as he tries to yank it off.
With his umbrella flapping around in the wind as he pulls, the brazen boozer finally manages to guide the pencil over the top of the bollard.
Struggling to carry the pencil under his arm, the man then shamelessly waddles off down the street.
Another clip shows a group of punters carrying one of the giant pencils horizontally outside the bar while surrounded by a crowd of merry revellers.
Carroll’s Bar appealed for the safe return of their item yesterday, saying: “We have a criminal on our hands.
“Bring back the pencil and no one gets hurt.
“In a shocking turn of events, a Cúirt pencil was stolen from Carrol’s Bar Dominick Street last night.
“We’re offering a reward for returning the pencil to the bar in the form of a free drink.
“Also we have you on camera.”
Social media users have been commenting online about the bizarre theft with pencil puns.
One person said: “2B or not 2B, that’s the real question.”
Another said: “Have you got any leads yet?”
A third said: “I hope he enjoys the sentence.”
While one person added: “He should’ve erased the evidence.”
Speaking today Cúirt Festival director Sasha De Buyl said: “The pencils have been an iconic part of the festival for many many years and this is only the second time in Cúirt’s 35 year history that a pencil has been pilfered.
“One of the pencils has now been found so the investigation has been pared back slightly, but we’re asking the public to come forward with any leads that may help us draw some conclusions about what took place.
“In all seriousness though, we’d love our pencils to be returned to us, as they bring so much joy to the streets of Galway during the festival.
“The festival runs until Sunday 10 April and we have a busy programme of events happening both in person and online (for viewers tuning in from afar), including Lucy Foley, Rumaan Alam, Colin Barrett, Roger Robinson and many more!
“People can book tickets and see what’s on at www.cuirt.ie”
