More than 12,000 copies of a pop-up book written by comedian Ricky Gervais disappeared while in route to an Indiana warehouse–$240,000 worth of books are now missing. The police are investigating.

Published by Candlewick Press, Flanimals Pop-Up was written by the star of the British television series, The Office and illustrated by Rob Steen. The book launches on March 9, 2010.

The publisher sent along a statement from Gervais about the crime: “This is obviously a misguided Flanimal Rights Group or an organized gang of 8 year olds. Just like the books, the thieves will fold under questioning.”

According to the company, the book hijacking has all the trappings of a heist movie: “The shipment of more than 12,000 copies was printed overseas and delivered by ship to a West Coast port in the United States. The books were then transported by train and were transferred to a trucker at the railhead as scheduled. While the trucker was en route to the warehouse he made a stop; when the trucker returned he discovered the container of Flanimals Pop-Up was missing.”