Monkey pulls off daring heist at Sheng Siong outlet

It was a theft committed in broad daylight at a local supermarket. The unlikely perpetrator? A monkey.

The brazen shoplifter was caught on camera stealing a bag of bread from a Sheng Siong outlet at Block 417 Fernvale Link on Saturday (Aug 1), Lianhe Wanbao reported.

Footage of the incident, captured by an eyewitness, was shared on Facebook the next day.

In the minute-long video, the monkey, which appeared to be a long-tailed macaque, was shown pacing around the entrance of the store.

It then scampered to a shelf, swiped the bag of bread and fled to a nearby footpath, all in a matter of seconds.

As the person behind the camera approached it, the monkey escaped up a tree and dug into its spoils.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/raven.qiu/videos/4482385658468256/[/embed]

An unidentified employee told the Chinese daily that this was not the first time the store had fallen victim to monkeys' thieving.

Since the end of last year, monkeys have stolen bread from the store on about six occasions, they said.

The store had contacted the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) about the issue at the end of 2019.

"From April to July, during the circuit breaker period, the monkeys did not come back, so we thought they had been caught," they added.

"We didn't think they would re-emerge."

kimberlylim@asiaone.com