The manager of a Felixstowe charity shop has made a plea for the return of an “irreplaceable” toy that was kit-napped this weekend.

Ipswich Star: Lucky the cat has been stolen from the RSPCA charity shop in Felixstowe.Lucky the cat has been stolen from the RSPCA charity shop in Felixstowe. (Image: Archant)

Lucky the mechanical cat was stolen from the RSPCA store in Hamilton Road on Saturday lunchtime.

Cathie Livesey, shop manager, said: “We are all devastated and he will be missed not only by us but by the children of Felixstowe who call in to see him.”

Mrs Livesey left the shop to go for a walk around half 11, and when she came back Lucky, which usually sits at the bottom of the stairs, was gone.

“It’s just such a sad thing,” Mrs Livesey added. “I ran up the street and into the other charity shops trying to find someone with a cat under their arm. But of course if someone took it they would have put it in a bag, they wouldn’t be walking around with it.”

Lucky was donated to the shop around three or four years ago, and joins the charity team when they do a public donation collection.

The cat has a motion sensor and moves when someone goes near it.

“It draws in the crowds,” Mrs Livesey said. “We can’t buy another one because they don’t make them like that anymore – so it’s an irreplaceable cat.”

Mrs Livesey said customers often tried to buy Lucky, so she had put a sign around its neck to say it was not for sale.

It’s not the first time charity shops in Felixstowe have been targeted by thieves.

Mrs Livesy said a skateboard was stolen from outside her store around two weeks ago, and the other charity shops along Hamilton Road regularly had items pinched.

Profits from this RSPCA charity shop go straight to the animal centre in Martlesham.

Anyone with information about Lucky’s whereabouts is asked to call the store on: 01394 275350.