Thieves Break Off 400,000 Pieces of KitKat Bars in a Major Heist. Nestlé’s Reaction Was Surprising.

Some chocolate chicanery just hit Europe in a big way. Thieves stole 12 tons of KitKat bars — roughly 413,793 pieces — while the shipment was being transported across Europe earlier this week. The truck left a Nestlé factory in central Italy headed for Poland, but it never arrived. The vehicle and its contents vanished.

Nestlé responded to the heist in good spirits. “We’ve always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat, but it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tons of our chocolate,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Nestlé says the missing bars could pop up on unofficial sales channels across Europe, but added that the chocolate is traceable through unique batch codes. Anyone scanning the stolen bars would get instructions on how to contact Nestlé. And rest assured, KitKat fans, the theft won’t affect supply or cause shortages ahead of Easter.