The popular student kebab restaurant Gardies has released CCTV footage of a young man stealing the Christmas tip jar, containing an estimated £80.

The incident occurred late on Thursday 18th December.

Images of the thief were posted online the following day and the owner of the independent Greek kebab takeaway and restaurant, Vas Anastasiou, has since called the response from social media “phenomenal”.

The video has amassed over 80,000 views and 1,400 ‘shares’ from the Gardenia Restaurant Facebook page. A message was posted alongside the footage: “This guy stole our Christmas tips. We are sorry for him. We hope Christmas will heal his illness and become proper human again”, and asked viewers to share the video.

Despite the help of social media, the thief has yet to be identified. 

In 2011, Varsity successfully campaigned to halt Gonville & Caius College’s plans to close Gardies and redevelop the site, as part of proposals for expansion of student housing in Rose Crescent.  The Gardenia has been running under its current name since 1961, and has accumulated a large student following. The petition to stop its closure gained 8000 signatures from students and alumni, including Stephen Fry and Michael Portillo.

Students have been similarly supportive in response to this latest incident. Tess Hopkins, a second year at Murray Edwards, has been left outraged at the most recent plight to hit the kebab shop: “Gardies is an institution for Cambridge students. I can’t believe someone would take money from the wonderful staff there, especially at this special time of the year. I hope we can rally together and find this thief. Anyone who messes with Gardies, messes with all of us.”

Cambridgeshire police have launched an investigation and appeal to anyone with information to contact them on 101.