SAN ANTONIO – A man scaled a barbed-wire fence early Tuesday morning and targeted an antique vending machine, San Antonio Zoo officials said.
Once over the fence, the burglar led security officials on a chase before eventually losing them. Security later found that the man had broken into one of the zoo's Mold-A-Rama machines.
For years, the antique attractions created plastic molded figures while children waited for them.
Zoo officials said the burglar got cash out of a machine. There was no word on the amount of money that was in the machine.
Brian Carter of San Antonio Zoo said he didn't know if the machine was still working. If not, the machines are not manufactured anymore and Carter said parts will be hard to come by.
"To break into a vending machine at a zoo, you have to be pretty desperate for cash," Carter said. "It's unfortunate he risked life and limb for a handful of quarters and maybe a few dollar bills."
No animals in the zoo were harmed.