Thieves took a shine to a 30ft beer bottle on a Galway rooftop at the weekend, stealing part of a Heineken outdoor display weighing over 10 stone and measuring eight feet in diameter.
The giant bottle was spirited from the rooftop of Flanagan's Chemists in Shop Street, Galway, between 1.30 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Gardai at Mill Street in Galway said the giant illuminated plastic bottle cost almost £18,000 and had been imported for advertising display at major events all over the State.
It took a day to erect the model for the Heineken Green Energy Rock Festival in the city over the Bank Holiday weekend.
But the thieves made off with the bottle from under the spotlights illuminating it in less than half an hour.
"It would take three or four strong men to remove this, and we can't see any reason for such a prank as the giant bottle is of no use to anybody except the beer company," said a Garda spokesman.
"A number of late-night revellers contacted us to say they saw three or four young people removing the bottle from the rooftop shortly before 2 a.m. on Saturday, but they thought they were workmen," he said.
The display was tied to the rooftop with ropes, and a witness described seeing two people on the rooftop lowering it down to two others on the street below.
MORE than £30,000 was raised for the RNLI and the cardiac unit of Waterford Regional Hospital over the weekend. The second annual Maritime Festival swung into action along Waterford's quayside and downriver to Dunmore East.
The Irish naval vessel LE Aoife, captained by Lieut CdrChris Nulty, was among the star attractions.
It was visited by 1,200 people on Saturday, a record for a naval vessel open to the public in this State.
However, another planned record attempt, the John Kavanagh Challenge to set a powerboat speed record for a return trip from Dunmore East to Swansea, was cancelled because of bad weather for the second successive year. In an effort to make it third time lucky, another attempt is to be made later this week, weather permitting.
Among yesterday's attractions on the Suir was a rescue display by the Air Corps, in conjunction with the LE Aoife and inshore lifeboats.
Among those who took part in a similar exercise last year was Capt Mick Baker, who subsequently died when the Air Corps Dauphin helicopter crashlanded at the sand dunes in Tramore.
As the festival increases in size it is hoped to bring a stage of the Tall Ships Race to the city next year, and plans are also being finalised to have a flypast by the Red Arrows display team.