[Ammi]

A large shipment of KitKat bars was stolen while in transit to distributors, a major candy crime right before the Easter holiday that could cause shortages for customers.

The truck carrying 413,793 units of a “new chocolate range”, about 12 tons of chocolate bars, was pilfered while being driven through Europe on 26 March, Agence France-Presse reported.

A spokesperson for Nestlé, KitKat’s parent company, confirmed the theft to the Guardian, adding that the company is investigating the theft with local authorities and supply chain partners.

The stolen truck left a factory in central Italy and was en route to Poland when the robbery occurred, according to a statement from Nestlé. The vehicle and the carried-off chocolate have not been located. No one was hurt during the heist, a Nestlé spokesperson told the Athletic.

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“We’ve always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat,” said Nestlé in a statement, riffing off the KitKat slogan. “But it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tons of our chocolate.”

The statement continued: “Whilst we appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes. With more sophisticated schemes being deployed on a regular basis, we have chosen to go public with our own experience in the hope that it raises awareness of an increasingly common criminal trend.”

The stolen bars were from KitKat’s new Formula One line, a result of KitKat’s becoming the official F1 chocolate bar last year, the Athletic reported. The candy bars were molded after race cars, still featuring KitKat’s iconic chocolate-covered wafers.

Due to the theft, the stolen KitKat bars could make their way into unofficial markets, Nestlé warned.

Company officials said that if that does occur, law enforcement can trace stolen products through batch codes assigned to individual bars.