Golden cookie (sculpture), 44 lbs., stolen from German baker Bahlsen

(CBS/AP) BERLIN - Someone stole a 44 pound cookie - um, make that a 44-pound sculpture of a cookie, that was part of a statue outside the Hannover office of Bahlsen's, the German cookie baker.

How the century-old gilded bronze sculpture was taken remains unclear, but police say witnesses reported seeing two men with a ladder in the area earlier this month.

Bahlsen's has offered euro1,000 ($1,350) for information leading to the golden cookie's return.

A police statement said a local newspaper received a picture Tuesday showing someone in an outfit similar to Sesame Street's Cookie Monster character holding a golden cookie.

The sender wrote to demand that cookies be delivered to children at a city hospital.

Police aren't sure if the writer is the real cookie-statue thief, or someone who'd like to take credit.