By admin 
The elusive Madonna Inn carpet thieves have struck again.
On Saturday around 4:15 p.m., two young college-age men wearing nondescript black hoodies and medical masks were seen walking the Madonna Inn welcome rug at the entrance to the hotel’s Gold Rush Steak House, general manager Connie Pearce told The Tribune. They then ran to a silver pickup truck in the parking lot and quickly drove away, she said.
“They did it right in front of our host,” said Pearce, who also captured the incident on the hotel’s security cameras. She asks for help identifying the thieves and their vehicle.
This is not the first time the hotel has fallen victim to this unique crime. The rug has now been stolen five times since 2021 and this is the second time this year. The a rug was also stolen in March.
“We’re down to our last nerve,” Pearce said. ‘It’s our property. It is not their property.”
Two young men in black hoodies and medical masks were seen stealing the welcome rug from the Madonna Inn steakhouse on November 16, 2024. This is the fifth time in four years that the carpet has been stolen.
The welcome mat is custom made with the Madonna Inn logo printed on it. Each time it was stolen, they had to buy a new one again, Pearce said.
“It’s not something you can just buy anywhere,” she said. Pearce previously estimated the rug’s value at $250.
Pearce suspects that the recurring crime is the work of a Cal Poly brotherhood as part of an initiation promise or joke, though she’s not sure which.
In an attempt to fool the robbers, Pearce said she removed the rug from the steakhouse foyer for the month of October, thinking that was the date the fraternity initiation would take place. But within two weeks of her releasing it for November, it was gone.
On November 16, 2024, two young men in black hoodies and medical masks were seen stealing the welcome rug from the Madonna Inn steakhouse. This is the fifth time in four years that the carpet has been stolen.
Have the details of the thefts changed somewhat over the years – previously the thieves wore more recognizable clothing, such as fraternity sweaters and sailor hats, face masks or no masks at all, but they are always a few young men, and the target of the burglary is always the welcome cloth.
In the past, the thieves lingered at the steakhouse for extended periods of time, but this time they simply opened the front doors, grabbed the carpet and ran, Pearce said.
“It’s really an adolescent, ridiculous joke,” Pearce said, but added that “someone is going to get hurt.”
“Those boys ran out of the parking lot while two young boys … jumped into the truck while it was moving,” she said.
Thieves steal a rug from the Madonna Inn steakhouse four years in a row. Is it a brotherhood joke?
Pearce said she had gone straight to university in the past, but this time also reported the incident to police.
San Luis Obispo Police Department Public information officer Christine Wallace said police are aware of the incident and are investigating.
Matt Laizer, Cal Poly’s director of media relations, said the university is also aware of the incident, but they are passing any information or questions to police as they are leading the investigation.
A photo from surveillance video shows the Madonna Inn logo carpet stolen by two thieves on Saturday evening, September 25, 2021.
Thieves’ pickup caught on camera at the Madonna Inn
Pearce captured security footage of the burglary in action, including photos of the thieves and their getaway car. She posted the photos on Facebook in an attempt to identify the suspects.
On Facebook, Pearce described the pickup as a four-door, pewter-colored 2007 GMC Sierra 4×4 with custom wheels and brake lights.
The license plate, which read 169ZRD, appeared to be from Nevada, she said. She told The Tribune that the car had no front plate and a thin, translucent gray film over the rear plate, she thinks to try to wash away the spectators’ figures.
The truck had a small lift, step rails, a black bed and a tow bar on the bumper, she said.
“The wheels on this truck are … absolutely custom,” Pearce said. “The truck is so cheated. It’s only a matter of time’ before it is found, she said.
Two young men in black hoodies and medical masks were seen stealing the welcome rug from the Madonna Inn steakhouse on November 16, 2024. This is the fifth time in four years that the carpet has been stolen.
She also told The Tribune that the truck bed was full of beer crates and that there appeared to be a parking permit hanging from the rearview mirror.
As for the thieves, Pearce described them as “very tall, slim, white kids” in their late teens or early twenties.
“They were the only two people in the parking lot wearing matching black hoodies and matching masks,” Pearce said.
Pearce advertised a $500 reward for the return of the carpet and identification of those responsible.
She asked anyone who had information Send her a direct message on Facebook or report it to the SLO Police Department.
Two young men in disguise were seen stealing the welcome rug from the Madonna Inn steakhouse on the afternoon of November 16, 2024, and escaping in a silver pickup truck. This is the fifth time in four years that the carpet has been stolen.