Country’s largest wooden shoe subject of a heist

ENTER - Nu breekt mijn klomp is a saying Dutch rural folks use to express their astonishment at amazing or startling news. The disappearance of the country’s largest wooden shoe – a klomp measuring 4 by 2 metres and weighing over 2,000 kilograms – from its covered showcase in this Twente village, certainly merited such an exclamation. To have such a village icon get lost without a trace, propelled the community in the national news limelight. The prankster(s) must have feared that the local policeman was about to launch an official investigation into the theft, so they tipped him off that the icon had been stored safely pending an announcement. Villagers are divided as to who could be behind the heist: a local carnival group or a P.R. firm with a special interest in wooden shoes? To heighten interest in this ‘stolen’ item, the culprit(s) released photographs showing this massive piece of over-sized footwear stores in a shed or barn. Is he afraid of charges? As they also say, he better watches out to stay off the ice when wearing wooden shoes (men moet nooit met klompen op het ijs komen).