India, March 31 -- S wiss food giant Nestle has said that around 12 tonnes, or 413,793 bars, of its KitKat chocolates were stolen after leaving a production facility in Italy earlier this week, en route to Poland. The Switzerland-based company said in a statement on Friday that "the vehicle and its load are still nowhere to be found." The shipment of the crunchy bars, made of waffles covered with chocolate, was intended for distribution across Europe. However, it disappeared while travelling between production and distribution sites. "Whilst we appreciate the criminals' exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes," the company said, adding that increasingly sophisticated methods are being used in such crimes. Nestle said it chose to go public in order to raise awareness about the growing trend. Nestle warned that the missing stock could surface through unofficial sales channels across European markets. However, each bar carries a unique batch code, allowing the products to be traced. A KitKat spokesperson said consumers, retailers and wholesalers can identify if a product is part of the stolen batch by scanning the on-pack code. If a match is found, users will receive instructions on how to alert the company, which will then take appropriate action. The announcement soon sparked a wave of reactions on social media (inset above), with users expressing disbelief at the scale of the theft. Some joked about the heist, with one user writing, "Is this a lead up to the new Fast and Furious movie?" while another user said, "My buddy actually loves KitKats. So much he's got 12T in his room." Others were puzzled by the logistics of the theft. "My brain trying to figure out how someone can get away with 12T KitKats without anyone noticing," one commenter wrote, while another wondered, "How are they gonna keep all of that from melting?" HTC...