Nearly 1,000 wheels of high-end, award-winning cheddar cheese were stolen from a London dairy.
A clever thief posing as a wholesale distributor swindled Neal's Yard Dairy out of 48,488 pounds of cloth-bound cheddar.
It is valued at $390,000 (roughly 300,000 British pounds), NBC News reported.
Over 950 wheels of Hafod, Westcombe and Pitchfork Cheddar were delivered before the fraud was discovered, according to the dairy.
The theft was carried out by a swindler posing as a wholesale distributor for a major French retailer.
The dairy says it has received an "overwhelming number of calls, messages and visits" after news of the theft was publicized.
"We are truly touched that so many people in the artisan cheese community and beyond are standing with us," it said on Facebook.
International authorities and Scotland Yard are investigating the theft.
Celebrity British chef Jamie Oliver has highlighted the theft and dubbed it the "great cheese robbery."
"If the deal seems too gouda to be true, it probably is!" Oliver wrote in a post to his 10.5 followers on Instagram. He urged his followers to be on the lookout for "lorry loads of very posh cheese."
"The Naked Chef" alum urged the public to be on the lookout for a good deal on cheese and emphasized the rarity of authentic British cheddar.
"If anyone hears anything about posh cheese going for cheap, it's probably some wrong'uns."
Cheddar is one of the most popular cheeses in the world. Named after the village of Cheddar in England, it's often imitated because it doesn't have a protected status like moose cheese, one of the most expensive food items in the world retailing at $1,000 per kilogram.
This story first appeared on IBTimes.com
