€12,000 worth of champagne was stolen from a garage in Sliema, with the owner offering a reward of €1,000 for any information that could lead to catching the perpetrator.

The theft was carried out from a garage belonging to the owner of The Little Champagne House in Sliema on the evening of Sunday 13 January in Sliema. The champagne was stored in the garage.

The shop owner, Taina Grech, has used social media to offer a €1,000 reward for anyone with information.

Contacted by The Malta Independent, Grech said that the criminals were aware of where the camera was and had planned the robbery accordingly.

The CCTV footage shows a man walking past the building twice, first at 9:37pm and again at 9:39pm. When passing in front of the garage a second time, the man waved as a signal, and shortly after a black Mitsubishi Shogun reversed into the garage entrance and drove off at 9:44pm. The garage had been broken into earlier.

The CCTV footage shows that the car is driven up Triq Moroni, turning left into Triq Carlo Manche towards Piazza Meme Scicluna.

Grech is the sole importer of the DurdonBouval Champagne, and each of the 250 bottles which were stolen on Sunday evening are marked with clearly labelled with information about the importer.

Anyone with information about the theft or who comes across one or more of the stolen bottles is asked to report to the Sliema Police Station or Grech.