Thieves steal Watauga Girl Scouts’ money but not their spirit

Girl Scout troops work hard at meeting their goals, evident by hours spent selling cookies outside of stores and restaurants this time of year.

Troop 1299 in Watauga, which has a goal of selling 9,000 boxes this year, has to work even harder after two thieves stole their cash box Saturday, according to Fox4News.

“A gentleman went up, asked a bunch of questions about some cookies, grabbed a box of cookies, kind of distracted Mom with those cookies, talking about them, grabbed the entire cash box and ran,” troop leader Stephanie Massengale told Fox4News.

Massengale said the man jumped into to a getaway car with a driver waiting nearby and took off, throwing the cash box out of window but keeping the $248 inside.

Watauga Police Sgt. Jason Babcock said police are investigating, but the surveillance cameras did not capture pictures of the two thieves.

The thieves may have taken the Scouts’ money, but they didn’t steal their spirit. The troop was back selling cookies on Sunday but with new safeguards in place, according to the story.

Massengale’s daughter Trynadee said the incident made her “scared and sad at the same time.”

Her message to the thieves? “I hope you’re happy with making some little girls feel that bad,” Massengale told Fox4News.

This story was originally published February 12, 2017 at 9:58 PM with the headline "Thieves steal Watauga Girl Scouts’ money but not their spirit."