SYDNEY, Australia – Thieves stole 17.6 tons of ham and bacon from a warehouse and left behind a message busting the owners’ chops, police said Monday.

“Thanks,” the crooks daubed on a wall of the Zammit Ham and Bacon curers warehouse in suburban Sydney. “Merry Christmas.”

Police said the robbery occurred some time between late afternoon Saturday and dawn Sunday.

Owner Anthony Zammit said that when he arrived for work Monday he found a hole in a wall of the building where the thieves appeared to have entered. The stolen meat was worth up to $88,000, he said.

Zammit said he was offering a $4,420 reward for anyone who helped to recover the meat, and that his company would work overtime to make sure all its Christmas orders were filled.

“We’re working 24 hours a day, seven days a week and put on extra staff,” he said.

Florida cities conclude struggle over slogan

ORLANDO, Fla. – Officials from Coral Gables and Orlando have averted a potentially ugly fight over the right to the nickname “The City Beautiful.”

Both had used the slogan for decades, but Coral Gables applied last year for a federal trademark seeking exclusive rights. Orlando filed an objection, and the two sides reached a deal last week.

Orlando can use the nickname in promotional materials in 22 nearby counties, and Coral Gables, near Miami, can use it in 10 South Florida counties.”

Orlando officials, initially upset that they might have to redraw the city seal, were pleased with the solution.

“We don’t care if someone else uses it; we just wanted to make sure we didn’t lose the ability to use the motto,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said.

Orlando has used the name since at least 1908, Coral Gables since 1933. Orlando and Coral Gables did not, however, agree on which city was more beautiful.

From Associated Press reports