An award-winning chef told thieves to donate his stolen pies to charity after stealing his van, however police recovered the pies which are reportedly too damaged to eat.
Tommy Banks, a Michelin-starred chef, said that he had left 2,500 meat pies in a refrigerated van overnight while the vehicle charged, but when staff arrived Monday morning, the van had disappeared from the England facility, as reported by CBS News.
In a video shared to Instagram, Banks pleaded with the thieves to at least stop by community centers or food pantries to donate the pies rather than having them go to waste.
"I know you're a criminal, but maybe just do something nice because it's Christmas and maybe we could feed a few thousand people with these pies that you stole," the chef said in the video.
Police were later able to recover the pies and the van, however both were found discarded and damaged about 30 miles away from where they were stolen, and therefore unable to be donated, as reported by the Associated Press.
"It's just so much waste. It's just rubbish," Banks said in a follow-up video on Instagram. "Sorry it's not a happier ending to this story."
The thousands of pies were estimated to be valued at about $32,000.
Originally published by Latin Times.
