Officially, mascot stealing is forbidden by a high-level formal agreement signed in 1992, after Navy midshipmen cut phone lines and zip-tied six Army employees while stealing West Point’s mules. And privately, the military leaders that forbid the missions at times have also chuckled with glee. One heist was so stealthy that it went unsolved until cadets ran an ad in The New York Times that read, “Hey Navy, do you know where your ‘kid’ is today? After a four-hour drive back to West Point, they unveiled not Bill No. 34, an arthritic, 14-year-old retiree with only one horn, according to a joint statement released by the Army and Navy in response to questions from The New York Times.

Source: New York Times November 23, 2021 14:34 UTC