Toronto police say toys, food stolen from Salvation Army warehouse

TORONTO -- The holiday season is just getting under way and with it comes many opportunities for fraud. The Toronto Police recovered a large stash of toys they say disappeared from a Salvation Army warehouse, and say they are doing everything possible to find who is responsible for the thefts. 

The Salvation Army, preparing to kick off its annual Christmas kettle campaign for needy families, has discovered some of the donations went elsewhere.

100,000 toys and box-loads of food worth an estimated $2 million were taken from a Salvation Army warehouse in Toronto.

Police recovered many of the stolen items on Friday, November 23rd at a storage facility near Brampton, Ontario -- enough loot to fill up three tractor trailers. 

The Salvation Army suspects the alleged thefts were an inside job, with the goods being moved gradually over a two-year time frame.

"We're dedicated to the investigation. We're doing everything possible to find who's responsible," Tony Vella with the Toronto Police Department said.

The investigation began last August, based on a tip from a whistleblower. Soon afterwards, the Salvation Army fired the executive director of its Toronto warehouse.

Canadians are infuriated over the thefts, but their generosity is in tune with the season. Donations to the Salvation Army are pouring in.