Beloved pretzel mascot Doughseph returned after theft twist-up in Langhorne

Doughseph, the beloved flag-waving mascot of the Philly Pretzel Factory's Langhorne location, returned to his rightful place outside, beckoning folks to check out the store at 1506 E. Lincoln Highway.

Doughseph, apparently swiped sometime early Friday morning by still unknown bandits, was just as inconspicuously returned early Sunday morning.

"We wanted to give them a chance to return it," said Brian Kean, who, along with his brother, Shaun, are equal proprietors of this Philly Pretzel Factory location. "Some people wanted us to press charges and circulate pictures (of those that stole the mascot). We didn't want to go through that whole process, so we decided to just keep it positive."

Here's how the great Doughseph conspiracy unfolded, and what's next for the beloved mascot.

Doughseph swiped sometime after Eagles-Vikings game

Kean said he didn't notice Doughseph was missing when he arrived at the store early Friday morning.

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"Friday mornings tend to be a little crazy in here, so when we get up early and come into the shop, it's dark out and sometimes we don't notice things," Kean said. "So we rolled up, and our focus was on twisting pretzels, getting our day started and doing our school accounts.

"So after cranking out a bunch of pretzels, 1 p.m. hits and my brother and I are leaving as the afternoon squad comes in. I look left, and our pretzel guy is gone."

The Kean brothers are known for adding an extra wacky twist to its pretzel offerings.

Earlier this year, the brothers created the "Last Supper" pretzel, and also creates Phillies logo and pretzel-shaped baseballs.

Doughseph returned after social media efforts

After looking around bit, a resigned Brian headed back into the store and decided to take to social media instead of contacting the local police.

Photos: Philly Pretzel Factory: Check out how Philly Pretzel Factory in Langhorne gets creative with 'Last Supper' twist

"It dawned on me to not get mad about this situation, and to just put it out on social media and see if we could get someone to spread the word," Kean said. "We didn't think it would do anything; it was more of a last-ditch effort.

"But it just started growing legs from there," Kean added. "We have a good local fan base here, and they started sharing posts."

The 'Last Supper' pretzel: Langhorne pretzel shop creates 'Last Supper' twist. It's an original Dough-Vinci masterpiece

The Kean brothers also offered free pretzels to everyone that spread the word on social media, and need only to show the post as proof.

The responses to the Philly Pretzel Factory's original post alerting the theft were fast and dripped with incredulity.

"It's like stealing or vandalizing the Rocky Statue. You just don't do that," read one response.

"Can’t people just leave things alone anymore. I don’t get this need to take others property. Hope they get caught fast!" read another response.

Others took a more light-hearted stance.

"Geez what an in-salt! So knot nice!! They knead to bring him back!!!" read the response from another poster.

So what's next for Doughseph after such a misadventure? Might be time to settle down.

"The most important thing is that Doughseph was returned, with no injuries," Kean said. "We didn't even know he was going to come back.

"Now, we've got to make a partner for him."

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Philly Pretzel Factory mascot stolen, returned from Langhorne shop