Ronald McDonald stolen from playground

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Workers at a McDonald’s in Columbus are asking Santa for only one gift this year. They just want their Ronald McDonald statue back.

The life-sized clown statue was stolen from the fast-food restaurant’s playground on Thanksgiving.

“We were open for breakfast and had just closed,” manager Tonja Brown told the AJC on Sunday.

Ronald was last seen sitting on a bench at the playground outside the south Georgia restaurant. Video surveillance show he was kidnapped – or clown-napped – some time Thursday afternoon, the manager said.

The playground remains open, but it is not the same without Ronald around, Brown said.

“Kids love him,” she told the AJC. “We just want him back.”

The theft is under investigation by Columbus Police.