The giant Playmobil fireman was a draw for customers at the Kanata toy store Tag Along Toys. (TagAlongToys) An Ottawa toy store is asking for the public to be on the lookout for a four-and-a-half foot tall Playmobil fireman they say was brazenly stolen from in front of their shop Wednesday afternoon.

At 3:45 p.m., a young man in his 20s walked up to the plastic toy, grabbed it and "ran like the wind," said Tag Along Toys store manager Debbie Harley.

The man carried it to a car parked in front of a nearby Dairy Queen, Harley said. As he tried to stuff the giant toy in his car, the fireman's head and arm fell off, she said, but an unwitting bystander picked the appendages up and handed them to the man.

Store owner Patti Taggart posted a picture of the toy, worth about $550, on her Twitter account. She has also filed a police report.

The fireman toy has acted as a kind of unofficial mascot for Tag Along Toys on Terry Fox Drive for eight years, Harley said.

"It was a big draw," she said. "Kids would come to the store to get their picture taken with it."