India, March 30 -- Thieves in Italy pulled off a sugary heist just ahead of Easter celebrations when they stole a large shipment of KitKat bars while in transit to distributors.

The major candy crime right before the Easter holiday could cause shortages for customers across Europe, a claim Nestle, the Swiss parent company of the KitKat brand, has denied.

Nestle confirmed the theft of a huge shipment, jokingly stating that the thieves took the KitKat brand's marketing slogan "take a break" quite literally.

"We've always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat. But it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tons of our chocolate," Nestle said in a statement.

The company told the Guardi...