Have you seen these stolen Minions?

Have you seen these scampering Minions?

The bright yellow inflatable characters were last seen decorating the front yard of a Robbinsville home last Sunday.  By Monday night, the Minions had disappeared.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Marie Ondy, the Minions’ owner. “My husband called me up at work and said, ‘Call the police. Our Minions are gone’.”

The 7 X 10 foot decoration features three cartoon character "Minions" playing on an inflatable blue slide. Though Marie and her husband Marc bought it as a treat for their grandchild, they later discovered the elaborate decoration had become something of a collector’s item this year.

In fact, said Ondy, local police originally suspected that mischievous kids of stealing it but later, upon learning that the item was so rare, surmised that it might have been stolen by an adult.

“It’s called "The Naughty or Nice Slide",” Ondy said. “It’s worth $200 but we caught a deal at Lowe’s and bought it for $100. It sells for $350 on eBay.”

After conducting an extensive “minionhunt” through Robbinsville, West Windsor, Hamilton, Highstown and Allentown, Ondy said she considers the likelihood of recovering the Minions “nearly nil.” Her hope at this point is that if someone sees her decoration, they will report it to the police.

“If somebody sees one popping up in someone’s yard, chances are, it’s ours,” she said.

Ondy posted the following message on Facebook and it was shared 636 times. But, so far – nothing.

Even so, the Ondys haven’t let the theft dampen their Christmas cheer.

“There’s a sign in my front yard that says, ‘Thank you for restoring my Minions.’ No one’s returned them but we’ve had two people stop and offer to give us money to buy new ones. We didn’t accept it – we just want our Minions back – but it was so nice of them to offer.”