Enamel dog water bowls, snuggle rugs, glasses, cutlery, tap fittings, lamps and even a toilet are among items that customers have reportedly stolen from South Australian hospitality outlets.

Key points: A popular pizza and wine bar in Adelaide put up a Facebook post about a number of thefts

A popular pizza and wine bar in Adelaide put up a Facebook post about a number of thefts Many other restaurant and cafe owners commented, sharing the frustration

Many other restaurant and cafe owners commented, sharing the frustration An industry body leader says thefts at restaurants are "incredibly common"

The latest item has its owners fuming: a large firepit which was more than likely still hot.

The firepit was stolen from the Lost in a Forest pizza and wine bar in the Adelaide Hills town of Uraidla on Friday night, just as the owners were celebrating their third anniversary of being in business.

"We're taking a minute to remember all the things people have stolen from here," the restaurant's operators said in a Facebook post.

The firepit at the Lost in a Forest pizza and wine bar, at Uraidla in the Adelaide Hills. ( Instagram: thanksyaa )

"Last night, several people thought our firepit was superfluous and much better at their house.

"We open our doors to everyone four days a week and it's a little sad to have people treat our magical space with such disregard.

"Our amazing collection of souvenir spoons didn't last very long, neither did our embossed glasses."

Lost in a Forest also said that two leaf blowers were "repurposed" along with five original artworks from the bathroom.

"We recently farewelled the chimney from our chimenea, which seems odd, because, like pizza and wine, they go together really well," they said.

"And the latest … if anyone has any information regarding the firepit, we'd love it back because y'know, it's getting cold and it's ours."

Other operators share the frustration

The post prompted a number of other hospitality operators to tell their stories.

Mt Lofty Ranges Vineyard owner Sharon Nicholas-Pearson said the Lost in a Forest thefts did not surprise her at all.

"We have glasses, our hand-knitted snuggle rugs, cutlery etc disappear all the time," she said.

"A girl told me it's her right to take glasses from every place she visits, when caught with glassware."

Marina Tazhdynova owns Adelaide's Bibliotheca Bar and Book Exchange and the Red October Bar.

She also commented that many people did not consider taking items as being theft and instead believed they were "taking souvenirs".

"People steal everything — lamps, tonnes of glasses, s***ty Ikea candles and especially metal straws," she said.

Inside the Lost in a Forest pizza and wine bar, which was previously a church. ( Supplied: SA Tourism Commission )

An 'unfortunate sign of the times'

Not even dog bowls are safe.

"I lost lovely enamel dog water bowls from my cafe and handmade salt and pepper shakers," cafe owner Courtney Christie said.

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"[An] unfortunate sign of the times," the former Grumpy's Brewhaus owner Andrew Schultz said.

"We used to lose glasses, tap fittings, fireplace tools and even a fez a mate brought back from Egypt for us."

Another of the post's commenters, Cate Franklin, recalled that years ago, a company she was working for held a client function at historic Ayers House, in Adelaide's CBD.

She said that she had to stand at the door to stop a client's wife from walking out with a "massive centrepiece, complete with four-foot-high vase".

Martindale Hall is a Georgian-style mansion near Mintaro, in South Australia's mid-north.

It operates as a museum and hosts functions such as weddings, birthday celebrations, cocktail parties and conferences.

"After 19 years of operation this year we have lost too much to mention, but the icing on the cake for us was our blue loos [portable toilets] stolen," manager Sharon Morris said.

"Our thoughts are with every small business out there trying to make a living, when most of our hours worked are voluntary."

'Sadly, it's incredibly common'

Restaurant and Catering Industry Association deputy chief executive Sally Neville said it was "incredibly common" for restaurants to be the victim of theft.

Portable toilets similar to those stolen from Martindale Hall. ( Supplied: Karl and Ali at geograph.org.uk )

She said it was a constant struggle for businesses to deal with and would ultimately incur a cost back on the customers.

"It's absolutely incredible, it's almost like it's a challenge that they set themselves of how much they can get away with," she told ABC Radio Adelaide.

"The assumption that it's part of the cost of doing business is completely unfounded and unfair for the operator who has to then replace those things.

"These things just add on to the cost of doing business, which will ultimately need to be passed onto the customers."