A gang of teenagers carried out a brazen Valentine's Day theft at an Aldi store in Seven Kings, Ilford, east London.
The youths, dressed in tracksuits and balaclavas, were captured on video casually walking out of the store with stolen bouquets of flowers.
The teenagers appeared completely unfazed by being filmed during their audacious raid, with one even smiling at the camera and making hand gestures.
The incident was documented in footage posted to TikTok by account auditingbritain5, who captioned it 'Low-budget lovebirds on a Valentines Day mission: Aldi heist.'
A gang of teenagers carried out a brazen Valentine's Day theft at an Aldi store
GETTY
In the footage, a cameraman can be heard narrating the theft in real-time, stating: "They are stealing something. They are stealing something. What, flowers."
One of the teenage thieves responded with a casual: "We love flowers".
The cameraman attempted to alert security, calling out "Get them, get them" to a guard who found himself outnumbered by the group of seven teenagers.
The young thieves then made their escape through the car park, carrying at least three flower bouquets between them.
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A second video from the same TikTok account showed one of the group pushing a security guard as they exited the shop.
This video was captioned: "When you're under 18 but you still want to impress your Valentine. Operation Aldi Heist".
The theft is part of a growing trend of brazen shoplifting incidents across London, with official figures revealing shoplifting increased by 23 per cent to more than 490,000 cases annually - the highest since records began.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan attributed the capital's 50 per cent increase to the city having "a lot of shops".
London Mayor Sadiq Khan attributed the capital's 50% increase to the city having "a lot of shops"
PARecent incidents highlight this growing trend, with three thieves targeting a Greggs branch in South Ruislip last week, filling their bags with sandwiches, baked goods and drinks as staff and customers looked on helplessly.
In another incident, a shoplifter was recorded emptying shelves at a Boots store in central London.
During the Boots theft, the perpetrator was captured on video shouting at a female security guard to "get back" and "move" while continuing to take items from the shelves.
