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Texas high school teacher Ms. Dawson took to TikTok in a series of videos to tell the tale of a stolen Hello Kitty Funko Pop that led to calling the police on her students. One of her students stole her beloved Funko Pop, and despite giving them every opportunity to return the collectible without repercussions, they haven’t.

If you’ve had something stolen from you, you know it’s not fun. It’s upsetting, especially when the lost item had sentimental value. To make it even worse, if you know the person who stole the object, then it’s just that much more hurtful. You lose the item and the trust in that person.

A teacher called the police after students stole a Hello Kitty Funko Pop right off her desk.

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The item in question, the Hello Kitty Funko Pop, was a gift from a student to Ms. Dawson when she was teaching 3rd grade six years ago. She explained in the first of her series of videos that it was an item she had long held dear, and only this year decided to take it out of its box because she featured Hello Kitty as her classroom theme. Sadly, one of her students decided to swipe the item right off her desk.

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The teacher gave her students multiple opportunities to return the Funko Pop without repercussions.

Wanting nothing more than to get her beloved figurine back, Ms. Dawon offered her students multiple opportunities to return the stolen item, but to no avail. In her second video, she explained that she was out with a substitute for a few days. Before she left, she stressed to her kids that she hoped the Funko Pop would be returned, and that if it was, no further action or discussion was needed.

When she came back to the classroom, she found an empty Funko Pop box with no toy inside. To make matters worse, the substitute teacher had left a note about the students’ poor behavior. So not only did the students lack the integrity to respect the sub as she had asked, they also chose not to return the figurine. How did she react to that? She simply stated, “I am finally filing a police report for the Hello Kitty Funko Pop that was stolen off my desk.”

If you don’t know much about Funko Pops, you might think the teacher was overreacting, but these toys can actually be quite expensive depending on the model. For instance, one version of a Hello Kitty Funko Pop is listed for $249.99 on eBay. Ms Dawson also noted that many commenters had instructed her that her particular Funko Pop was a rare item worth much more than she originally thought.

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The teacher was heartbroken because the Funko Pop held sentimental value for her.

Despite the rarity of the collectible, the real value, the teacher explained, was sentimental. “It was very special to me,” she said, “and I just kept it in a box for six years.” That shows how much she cherished it. She didn’t even take it out of the box; she’d just look at it and appreciate the student’s gift.

In her most recent and final update, Ms. Dawson sadly explained that, even after filing a police report, she was no closer to identifying the thief or getting her Hello Kitty Funko Pop back.

If you think about how long the teacher had the Funko Pop and the appreciation she had for the student who gave it to her, you realize how unfair this incident was. When you own something you truly admire, it almost feels like a part of yourself. The teacher clearly loves Hello Kitty; her classroom is themed around it. That just shows how perfectly the gift fits her personality. To have that taken by students she trusted was simply sad.

As she stressed, her intention was never to have one of her students punished but rather to teach them “there are consequences for your actions.” She stressed, “I am a teacher. I am here to teach them life lessons.”

It sounds like any further steps will be taken by the school, including possibly putting cameras in Ms. Dawson’s classroom. One thing is certain, however. The incident has not deterred this teacher from giving her all to her kids. As she wrote in her final update, “I understand kids make mistakes as they are learning to navigate through life. I have such a forgiving heart and I hope moving forward everyone can learn something from this situation.” Ms. Dawson is a good teacher. Hopefully, the person who stole her collectible understands what they did and that it was wrong. Even if they never return the item or simply can’t, hopefully, they learned a lesson in the process.

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Matt Machado is a writer studying journalism at the University of Central Florida. He covers relationships, psychology, celebrities, pop culture, and human interest topics.