Most thieves get punished for their deeds. However, Dusty a cat burglar who is constantly stealing stuff from his neighbors in San Mateo, California, has become a celebrity, ever since the world discovered his naughty habit.

Nicknamed 'Klepto', this innocent looking feline is the purrrrfect pet during the daytime. However, as soon as its dark and the neighborhood goes to bed, he quietly leaves the house and begins his nightly quest for some loot.

The four-legged thief is not very discriminative about what he steals - He picks up whatever he can find and his nightly acquisitions range from bikini tops to small toys and even underwear, if nothing else is attainable. Some nights, Dusty is able to get as many as a dozen items, while on others, he has to make do with just one or two.

While Dusty's talent was only recently revealed to the world, his owners, Jean Chu and Jim Coleman, as well as, neighbors, have known about it for over three years. Every night, Dusty brings in stuff and every morning, Jean patiently stacks it away in the hope that some neighbor will come claim it. Over the years, she has kept a detailed inventory of all the 600 plus items, the cat has brought home.

To try slowdown the Klepto cat, the owners have put a little bell around his neck, so that the residents in the area are warned when the burglar enters their premises. This seems to have slowed things down somewhat, though Dusty still gets lucky, every now and again.

In the last few weeks, the burglar turned celebrity, has been featured in an episode of Animal Planet, appeared on the David Letterman Show and his owners have been interviewed by several radio stations not only from the USA, but also, Sydney, Australia. Hopefully, all this publicity will slow down this wily cat!

Resources: Sanmateo,patch.com,abclocal.go.com