Thieves broke into a Southern California gallery last week, pilfering artwork depicting Charlie Brown and other characters from the iconic comic strip "Peanuts."
The Los Angeles Times reports a security guard patrolling an open-air mall in Costa Mesa discovered a glass door smashed at the Chuck Jones Gallery on Thursday morning.
Scott Dicken, vice president of retail sales for the gallery's parent company, says the break-in occurred when the mall was closed. He says no other art was taken.
"It's just a shame," said Carol Erickson, of the Chuck Jones Gallery. "We provide this art to people because they love it.
"It's, I guess in some way might be flattering that someone took all the trouble to do this, but we bring this art into people's lives because they love it."
The gallery's owner has priced the three stolen pieces at $7,900.
The stolen artwork includes "Wishful Thinking No. 8" that shows Charlie Brown slipping, and "Rats!" a limited-edition print of Snoopy unsuccessfully flying his doghouse.
The third piece, "Hey Linus, Guess Who's Back?" depicts the blanket-toting character fending off Snoopy.
