Boy, oh, Boy

If you're going to steal something so distinctive that you can never display it in public, you should probably stick to paintings so you can at least sit in your room and admire them periodically. On the other hand, maybe that's exactly what this thief is doing:

Isza said the Big Boy — which stood almost 9 feet tall and weighed several hundred pounds — was an icon at his shop, but had recently been taken down for refreshing.

"Somebody must have wanted it real bad," Isza said. "It would have taken several people to get him out of here."

Redman said the Big Boy went missing sometime between 5:30 p.m. Friday and 7:30 a.m. Saturday. A caller to the police station later reported that the Big Boy was possibly seen in the back of a pickup truck.

Redman said the missing Big Boy should be easy to identify — besides its trademark clothes and smile, the statue was missing its hamburger, which had been removed so the statue could hold Isza's sign.

Hint: Do a search of college dorm rooms. If you see more than one Big Boy, arrest the one who seems to be breathing.

This story, it should be noted, opens with one of those cute ledes that might have been tolerable in high school but should be grounds for public flogging out in the real world; "Police say the rather large boy went missing sometime late Friday night or early Saturday morning, possibly disappearing in the back of a pickup truck.

Does anybody else find that restaurant icon a little creepy, by the way?