Police in Australia are desperately hunting a 'dildo bandit'

Police are on the hunt for a man who nabbed a very large item from an X-rated adult shop in Australia.

The Love Heart Adult Shop owner was said to arrive at her Queensland branch and notice one of the "larger testers" was missing.

Ash told the Toowoomba Chroniclethatit didn't take long for her to "track down" where it went after reviewing CCTV footage from that day.

"It’s a very big item to steal, I guess by the way he put it in his pocket … staff wouldn’t be looking there," she told the outlet, adding that the AUD $200 (£114) price tag was probably one of the motives behind the theft.

The footage showed the man wandering around the sex shop, before looking at the large sex toy and pocketing it.

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"Earlier, he picked up the box, and he must have seen the ($200) price tag and didn’t want to pay it, so he took the best next option – the tester," she said.

"In between cleaning, there’s probably about 10 people that had touched it, so hygienic-wise, stealing a tester wouldn’t be my first choice."

Police are currently said to be investigating the incident.

Ash told the outlet how the current economic climate is prompting people to spend less – but still encourages first-time sex toy users to visit her store.

"We’re not the only ones struggling, unfortunately with the cost of living rising, everyone is more careful with how they spend," she told The Chronicle. "It can be a little bit overwhelming for new customers, but that’s what we’re there for – to make you feel comfortable."

She added: "If they have a concern and they don’t like talking about it, we are very familiar with a lot of (sensitive) things – we are here to help."

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