Salvation Army donation bucket stolen at Nickels Arcade

By Lee Higgins Crime and courts reporter

Posted on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 : 12:01 p.m.

A Salvation Army donation bucket was stolen Saturday afternoon at Nickels Arcade, an Ann Arbor police report said.

A man staffing the red kettle took a 15-minute break and returned to find it missing at about 2:20 p.m., the report said.

A Salvation Army red kettle went missing over the weekend.

He noticed a lock securing the bucket was unlocked, but was able to account for the keys, according to the report.

It's unclear how much money was taken.

The Red Kettle drive is the Salvation Army's largest fundraiser of the year.

The local theft wasn't the only Salvation Army donation bucket stolen over the weekend - police in northwest Ohio arrested a man accused of swiping a red kettle full of donated money outside a store Saturday. Police said the 44-year-old man who was arrested said he hates Christmas.

Anyone with information on the Ann Arbor theft can call the department's tip line at (734) 794-6939 or e-mail tips@a2gov.org.