Mysterious Shoe Thief Identified
2024-11-28
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1Police suspected someone was stealing shoes from a children's school in southwestern Japan.
2But a security camera caught the thief in action. It was a weasel!
3The small animal with a long body and short legs usually hunts for rats and rabbits.
4But this one was hunting for children's shoes.
5After the children's shoes began disappearing, police put in place three security cameras in the school in Fukuoka in southern Japan.
6Soon after, recorded video showed a weasel with a small shoe in its mouth.
7"It's great it turned out not to be a human being," Deputy Police Chief Hiroaki Inada told The Associated Press recently.
8Teachers and parents had feared the thief could be a person with mental health problems.
9Japanese often take their shoes off before entering homes.
10The shoes that disappeared were all slip-ons the children wore indoors, stored in special spaces near the door.
11Weasels are known to hide items. People who keep weasels as pets give them toys so they can hide them.
12The weasel moved shoes around and took 15 of them before police were called.
13Six more were taken the following day.
14The weasel returned to steal one more shoe.
15The video of that theft was seen the next day.
16The shoe-loving weasel only took the white indoor shoes made of canvas, likely because they are light to carry.
17"We were so relieved," the school's kindergarten director Yoshihide Saito told Japanese broadcaster RKB Mainichi Broadcasting.
18The children got a good laugh when they saw the weasel in the video.
19Although the stolen shoes were never found, the remaining shoes are now safely behind netting that covers the storage spaces.
20The weasel, which is believed to be wild, is still on the loose.
21I'm John Russell.
1Police suspected someone was stealing shoes from a children's school in southwestern Japan. But a security camera caught the thief in action. It was a weasel! 2The small animal with a long body and short legs usually hunts for rats and rabbits. But this one was hunting for children's shoes. 3After the children's shoes began disappearing, police put in place three security cameras in the school in Fukuoka in southern Japan. Soon after, recorded video showed a weasel with a small shoe in its mouth. 4"It's great it turned out not to be a human being," Deputy Police Chief Hiroaki Inada told The Associated Press recently. Teachers and parents had feared the thief could be a person with mental health problems. 5Japanese often take their shoes off before entering homes. The shoes that disappeared were all slip-ons the children wore indoors, stored in special spaces near the door. 6Weasels are known to hide items. People who keep weasels as pets give them toys so they can hide them. 7The weasel moved shoes around and took 15 of them before police were called. Six more were taken the following day. The weasel returned to steal one more shoe. The video of that theft was seen the next day. 8The shoe-loving weasel only took the white indoor shoes made of canvas, likely because they are light to carry. 9"We were so relieved," the school's kindergarten director Yoshihide Saito told Japanese broadcaster RKB Mainichi Broadcasting. 10The children got a good laugh when they saw the weasel in the video. 11Although the stolen shoes were never found, the remaining shoes are now safely behind netting that covers the storage spaces. 12The weasel, which is believed to be wild, is still on the loose. 13I'm John Russell. 14Yuri Kageyama reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 15___________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17slip-on - n. a shoe without fastenings 18pet -- n. a domesticated animal kept for pleasure 19relieved - adj. experiencing or showing relief especially from anxiety or emotions that have built up 20kindergarten - n. a school or class for children who are usually five to six years old 21netting -- n. material consisting of pieces of string or rope that are woven together