Missing: One golden cookie, weighing around 20 kilogrammes.

Suspect: The Cookie Monster?

The rectangular gilded bronze sculpture was part of a statue gracing the facade of German cookie baker Bahlsen's Hannover office.

How the century-old symbol was taken remains unclear, but police say witnesses reported having seen two men with a ladder in the area earlier this month.

The company has offered €1,000 ($1,350) for information leading to the cookie's recovery.

A police statement said a local newspaper received a picture Tuesday showing someone in an outfit similar to Sesame Street's Cookie Monster holding a golden cookie.

The sender wrote to demand cookies be delivered to children at a city hospital.

Police aren't sure if it's the same cookie, or a real claim of responsibility.