Perhaps they'd run out of the famed chocolate and hazelnut spread, but three thieves were so determined to get their hands on a jar by morning they broke into a lorry stocked with €200,000 worth of Nutella as it was parked at a service station outside Rome.
They boarded the truck as the driver slept after parking in the Tevere area, close to Attigliano, and then beat him up before attempting to make off with the Nutella stashed at the back of the lorry.
But their plan was foiled after they were spotted by another trucker, who promptly called the police.
The three fled the scene as the police arrived. The trucker suffered a fractured nose.
The Nutella heist attempt comes just months after robbers broke into a parked lorry in central Germany and stole five tons of the chocolate spread.
So what would the thieves in Italy have done with the Nutella if their plan had been successful?
In response to the incident in Germany in April, experts said the stash would be sold on the black market, particularly considering the high cost of Nutella compared to other spreads.
