Thieves have struck The Great Moscow Circus again, stealing a giant five-metre tall blow-up clown known as "Vladimir".
The unknown assailants took the inflatable clown between Sunday and Monday mornings from a property on Cambridge Road in Warrane in Hobart's east.
Circus general manager Greg Hall told ninemsn he believed several people would have been involved in the abduction and it would most likely have happened in the dark.
"We do think it was during the night because you can't deflate a five metre blow-up clown in full daylight without somebody noticing," he said.
"It takes about two of you to lift it — one person can't, two can and even then it's awkward because it's all over the place and you'd have to place it on a ute."
Mr Hall said the clown was the pride of the circus's blow-up figures, which consists mainly of three-metre-high clowns.
"Vladimir is the big boy, literally, cause he's a five-metre and not a three-metre — he's the head of the clan," he said.
The circus has put out a $500 reward and the offer of a free family pass to the show for anyone with information that leads to Vladimir's return, and Mr Hall pleaded with the those responsible to return him before the circus comes back from the Christmas break on January 1.
"If it is a prank, well then fine, ok, but you've got a five metre clown that is going to do absolutely nothing, (it's) worthless to you," he said.
"I want him back now for one; (he's) part of the circus family, and two; he's got a job to do — we might give him a day off but he's still got a job to do.
"Bring him back, advise somebody, tell the police, or tip us off somewhere so we can go and collect Vlad."
A Tasmania Police spokeswoman confirmed the theft was being investigated, but offered no further details.
It is not the first time Vladimir has gone missing.
During a tour to Western Australia earlier this year the circus lost the clown to local louts in Mandurah, south of Perth.
"Half a dozen young blokes had been on the turps one night and decided that it'd be fun (to steal him)," Mr Hall said.
"When all the publicity got out about it being nicked, they went to the police themselves and said, 'look, we're sorry, we did the wrong thing'.
"(They) came down to the circus to apologise and then offered to work it off — luckily we were doing the pull-down of the tent the next day and they worked it off there."
Another blow-up clown, three-metre-tall Boris, went missing during a trip to Alice Springs and was only found after mysteriously coming to life on a local golf course three weeks after the circus had left town.
"They had known at the golf course where there was a socket where you could plug in the compressor, so someone must have been a golf fanatic, and blown-up (Boris) in the middle of the fairways of the Alice Springs golf course with a note attached complaining about his work conditions," Mr Hall said.
"Now that's a sense of humour — we got him back anyway."
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