Owners of a popular St. Paul Mexican restaurant are hoping that a cash reward will help them get their stolen corn roaster back.

An image from a surveillance camera showed a man with a light-colored pick up hooking up and driving off with the roaster that had been parked outside the El Burrito Mercado at 175 Cesar Chavez Street, said assistant manager Ramon Campos. Campos said the silver roaster emblazoned with the restaurant's name and logo on all four sides had been at a festival Saturday and was dropped off at the restaurant around 2 a.m. Sunday. Normally the roaster is locked up on the property, but since it was brought back early Sunday and was going to be picked up a few hours later, we "hid it on the property" and didn't secure it as usual. "Two hours later it was gone," Campos said.

An urgent plea immediately went out over social media asking the public to keep their eyes open and to watch for it at junk and scrap metal yards. It also asked the public to call police if they knew of anybody who opened a new corn roasting station.

On Sunday, the restaurant's owners offered a $500 reward for information on the roaster's whereabouts and $1,000 if the thief is caught and convicted.

"We are hoping the guy will just bring it back," Campos said.

The roaster is one of four owned by the restaurant and marketplace that carries of a variety of Mexican cooking needs. It was founded in the 1970s by Tomas and Maria Silva and is well known for its roasted corn.

"They have the best," said Sgt. Mike Ernster of the St. Paul Police Department. "That's why this is a crime near and dear to my heart."

It's also personal to the family who runs the eatery.

"It's more personal than anything, the roasters belong to our retired father," one of his children and current CEO Milissa Silva Diaz wrote on Facebook.

No one had been arrested Monday morning.

Anybody with information can call St. Paul Police or the restaurant at 651-227-2192.

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768