Underwear thief is caught after ceiling collapses under the weight of the 2,000 sets of lingerie he had hidden in China

A little something different for the holiday season :)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2883345/Underwear-thief-caught-ceiling-collapses-weight-2-000-sets-lingerie-hidden-China.html

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• The crook, named Tan, had master key to his apartment block in Yulin city
• He crept into 750 of his neighbours' homes and stole women's underwear
• He then hid his stash in the cavity above his ceiling, until it grew too heavy
• Police called after a loud crashing sound was heard as ceiling buckled
• He confessed to the spree claiming he had mental illness since youth

By Matthew Blake for MailOnline

China's most prolific underwear thief terrorised his neighbours in a one-man crime wave that was anything but brief ... it lasted more than a decade.

But the bra bandit of Yulin city, southeast China, has finally been snared after the ceiling of his apartment collapsed under the weight of his stash.

The bra bandit, named only as Tan, had hidden more than 2,000 pairs of pilfered pants and brassieres in the cavity above his bedroom in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region's second-largest metropolis.

He had amassed the vast - and colourful - trove of lingerie by creeping into his neighbours' homes and snatching their smalls when they were at work.

Colourful: He had accumulated the vast - and colourful - trove of lingerie in a campaign of cat-burglary that saw him creep into 750 of his neighbours' homes and snatch their smalls over more than a decade 

Crime wave: The crook, named only as Tan, had hidden up to 2,000 pairs of pilfered pants and bras in the ceiling cavity above his living room in Yulin city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China.

Police said Tan, in his 30s, was able to gain unfettered access the flats in his apartment building thanks to a master key in his possession. 

They did not say how he had obtained the skeleton key. 

What his victims did not know was that their stolen underwear was right under their noses and in their neighbour's apartment all along.

Buckled: As the stash grew, it soon became too heavy for the flimsy roof panels and they buckled under its considerable weight

 

Master burglar: Police said Tan, in his 30s, was able to gain access the flats in his apartment building thanks to a master key in his possession 

 Tan has since confessed to his crimes, claiming he has had a mental illness since he was young boy, and said he didn't know when his obsession with stealing women's underwear started

As the stash grew, it soon became too heavy for the flimsy roof panels and they buckled under its considerable weight.

The police also report that Tang has stolen underwear from other apartment buildings, besides the one in which he lives, reported Shanghaiist.

The underwear thief has since confessed to his crimes, claiming he has had a mental illness since he was young boy, and said he didn't know when his obsession with stealing women's underwear started.