Thieves swipe ‘Peanuts’ art from gallery

Thieves broke into a Southern California gallery last week, pilfering artwork depicting Charlie Brown and other characters from the iconic comic strip “Peanuts.”

The Los Angeles Times reports a security guard patrolling an open-air mall in Costa Mesa discovered a glass door smashed at the Chuck Jones Gallery on Thursday morning.

Scott Dicken, vice president of retail sales for the gallery’s parent company, says the break-in occurred when the mall was closed. He says no other art was taken.

The gallery’s owner has priced the three stolen pieces at $7,900.

The stolen artwork includes “Wishful Thinking No. 8” that shows Charlie Brown slipping, and “Rats!” a limitededition print of Snoopy unsuccessfully flying his doghouse.

The third piece, “Hey Linus, Guess Who’s Back?” depicts the blanket-toting character fending off Snoopy.