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ATTLEBORO - The Easter Bunny has been kidnapped.

For the past several years, the big white rabbit prominently featured in a seasonal display outside Carol and Ronald Menard's home has been an Eastertime focal point for the neighborhood.

Children would gather around it for family Easter pictures and the Menard's grandchildren would use it as a kickoff point for their annual Easter egg hunt.

But this year could be different. Now, less than a week before Easter, the bunny is gone.

The almost 6-foot-tall white rabbit with big ears, three pink buttons down its front and donning a big purple bow, was stolen late Saturday night from in front of the home at North Main Street and Dewey Avenue. In its place is a large plywood sign pleading for the bunny's return - no questions asked.

Carol Menard said she knows the theft of the bunny - a.k.a. Peter Rabbit - is not a big deal in the annals of crime.

But, she said, it has sentimental value to her family and the neighborhood and has been the source of many memories over the years.

"I want that rabbit back in the worst way," she said.

The Menards are known for their seasonal decorating, incorporating a large old horse wagon on their corner lot. The wagon was damaged during the bunny heist, which Carol said happened about 11:45 p.m. Saturday.

"I woke up to what I thought was arguing coming from our corner lot," she said.

Menard said she saw a sport utility vehicle and what she thinks were teenagers pulling the rabbit from its spot atop the wagon and throwing it into the back seat of the SUV.

She tried to follow in her car, but lost it.

"I went home and cried," Menard said.

"My little grandson is heart-broken," she said. "He said the Easter Bunny's crying, too, because it's missing us. It's only a bunny rabbit, but it's the principle of it." Menard said she didn't report the theft to police because she thought it was an insignificant thing in light of their other responsibilities.

"I don't know why anybody would do it," Menard said.