Employees of a Queens animal center were shell-shocked to discover a thief made off with a 100-year-old tortoise on Monday, officials said.
The head of operations at the Alley Pond Environmental Center in Bayside called police around 4 p.m. after noticing that the rare creature’s enclosure was broken and the shelled reptile was gone.
Cops determined there had been forced entry and intentional damage caused during the bizarre heist, authorities said.
Police were searching for surveillance video at the center on Northern Blvd. near the Cross Island Pkwy.
Alley Pond is a nonprofit educational center.
