Admittedly, there is nothing cheap about Lego and two thieves who helped themselves to the popular building blocks at various New Zealand stores recently have now tightened their belts.
The police from Auckland, New Zealand, caught the two suspected Lego thugs on Thursday with blocks worth NS$20 000 (about R224 000).
According to police, numerous stores in Auckland have been robbed of the blocks in the past few months.
The insolent thieves even devised a specific way to capture sets of the blocks.
“In each case, the suspected thieves set off the fire alarm to distract attention in the store,” said Sgt. Karen Tabb of the New Zealand police said.
The two, a 45-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man, are now facing 30 charges of shoplifting.
The pair also face charges under the Fire and Emergency Act for using the fire alarms as part of their prank.
The New Zealand police raided a house in South Auckland where the two were arrested and some of the stolen Lego was recovered, says Tabb.
Lego in New Zealand costs about NS$1 499 (about R16 700) for sets such as the Star Wars spaceship Millennium Falcon, which consists of about 7 451 blocks.
Last year, Lego consolidated its position as the world’s largest toy manufacturer. The Danish toy giant announced a record turnover for the family-run company last month.
