An inflatable snowman has been stolen from the market square in Wakken, a small village in West Flanders, causing outrage — as well as a significant amount of hilarity — on social media.
The 2.4-metre plastic doll, which is used to promote the village's annual Wakken Smelt charity festival, was last seen in the early hours of Sunday morning.
"We hope to find the snowman again," said Aniek Van de Velde of the Wakken Smelt organising committee. "The doll was disconnected from [its] battery and taken away. Whether the perpetrators can still use the snowman is not clear. We just hope he comes back intact."
Van de Velde also suggested that, if the snowman is not returned to the organisers within the next few days, the festival committee will likely be forced to purchase a replacement.
"[The festival] is for a good cause, so it is nice that we can really use all the resources we use for our event," said Van de Velde. "We do not want the theft to be a dampener at the event. That is why we are thinking of buying a new one."
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The proceeds from this year's festival, which is scheduled to take place on 3 December, will be used to fund youth programs in the surrounding area, as well as the construction of several schools in Liberia.
The stolen snowman's primary purpose was to promote an event at the Wakken Smelt festival in which a well-known 'Wakkenaar' (as the local inhabitants are known) disguises him or herself in a fully-covered snowman costume, with the first person to correctly guess his or her identity winning a prize.
The Wakken Smelt organisers kindly ask anyone with relevant information to contact them via their website: www.wakkensmelt.be.
