It's certainly been a riveting — albeit chaotic — 24 hours for the staff at one Toronto ice cream shop, and even more so for their beloved inanimate mascot, Coney.

The staff at Ruru Baked, a small-batch ice cream shop in Bloordale Village, were gutted to learn that their mascot —a beige oversized ice cream cone statue that lives outside of the shop — had been mysteriously stolen from right under their noses.

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In a post on Instagram chronicling Coney's rollercoaster journey, it appears as though the shop was informed of the statue's disappearance through a DM on Thursday night.

"I was just driving and saw a middle-aged white male carrying your white ice cream statue walking along Lansdowne," the informant writes. "As I passed by your shop, it was gone!"

Sure enough, where the proud emblem of one of Toronto's best ice cream shops once stood, there was now nothing but an empty pole, which staff at the shop joked could be used as a tether for 'doggy parking.'

Just when it was looking like Coney would never be seen again, though, he reappeared in his designated post just as inconspicuously as he had disappeared.

In Ruru Bakes' Instagram chronicles, security camera footage shows a staff member entering the shop and triumphantly raising Coney over their head, celebrating the return of the Lansdowne landmark.

"Honestly, this was a very funny journey, and we hope whoever stole it and returned it has a great story to tell now because we’ll remember this forever," writes the Ruru Bakes team in their Instagram caption.

Some, however, are not satisfied with the fog of mystery looming over Coney's long, strange trip.

"If only coney could speak and let us all know what happened the past 24 hours," writes one commentor. While another says they "truly hope the coney lore doesn’t end here, coney needs a back story."

I, for one, am glad to see Coney back safe at home where he belongs, although I certainly wouldn't complain about an HBO miniseries about Coney's harrowing journey.

In the meantime, the beautiful weather forecast this weekend offers an early excuse to head over to Ruru Baked, wish Coney a warm homecoming, and grab a scoop while you're at it.