Mysterious Shoe Thief Turns Out to Be Adorable Critter (VIDEO)

A kindergarten class in Japan faced a puzzling shoe thief until a security camera finally exposed the cute culprit: a mischievous weasel.

Teachers and parents in Fukuoka grew alarmed when students' indoor slip-on shoes, typically stored in cubbyholes near the door, began vanishing.

Fearing a human intruder with a shoe fetish, police installed three security cameras. To their relief, the footage revealed a tiny weasel darting off with a white shoe in its mouth.

In a viral clip posted to TikTok, the weasel can be seen going from cubby to cubby in search of the perfect shoe to take before scurrying off with its prize.

Watch below:

People in the comments section of the video joked about the surprising situation.

"What Pokemon is that?" someone commented.

"Swiper no SWIPING!" another added.

"'Bag is secured,'" a TikTok user joked.

"So many times in life that we go, 'Oh, thank God it's not a fetish thing,'" another person wrote.

The viral footage showed the weasel sneaking from behind a wall, grabbing shoes and scurrying away. Over several days, the creature swiped a total of 22 shoes, favoring lightweight canvas ones.

Weasels are known for hoarding objects, often stashing them to line their nests. According to CBS, experts believe the furry bandit was preparing for winter hibernation.

“It’s great it turned out not to be a human,” deputy police chief Hiroaki Inada told the Associated Press following concerns the shoe thief might have been a pervert.

Kindergarten director Yoshihide Saito shared the children’s reaction to the discovery, telling RKB Mainichi Broadcasting, “We were so relieved."

“The kids got a good laugh when they saw the video," he added.

While the weasel’s antics caused a brief stir, the incident brought an unexpected dose of humor to the school community.

No charges are expected for the furry thief, whose actions were deemed innocent preparation for the colder months, BBC reports.