Police ask for help after giant sausage stolen during the night

On Saturday night in the small Austrian town of Sankt Michael in Lungau, a massive sausage was stolen by a person or persons unknown.

Known as a mortadella, the 80 kg (176 pounds) specimen was not even the largest one available to the thieves - but given it weighs as much as a grown man, it's probably all they could carry.



According to police, the missing banger is 1.5 metres (five feet) long, with a diameter of 40 centimetres (16 inches.) The Italian owner of the market stall which sells the sausage estimates its value at more than €2,000. Police have asked for the public to inform them of any sightings of the purloined pepperoni.

In the centuries before black pepper was available as a seasoning for sausage meat, the ancient European sausage was seasoned with myrtle berries, which provides its name. The Italian mortadella recipe consists of ground pork, salt, pepper, sugar and bacon fat. The larger specimens can weigh up to 100 kg.