Bizarre moment brazen thief steals large artwork off the wall

A man has been caught on CCTV struggling to steal artwork off the wall of a restaurant before finally running off with it into bushland.
Police are investigating after a 25-kilogram portrait was stolen from a restaurant in Middle Swan, in Perth's northeast, about 5.30pm Saturday.
The bizarre moment was filmed by a restaurant security camera and shows the man struggled for up to a minute to take the artwork off the wall.
In the footage, the man wearing a collared shirt and glasses approaches the artwork, turns his back to it and starts talking to another man.
He then scans the room for staff before making his first attempt to steal the portrait.
The man quickly aborts the attempt and walks away, but shortly returns while a group of people look on.
He can be seen frantically pulling at the artwork while frequently checking over his shoulder.
The artwork will not budge and he is forced to abort the attempt again and acts nonchalant.
But he goes in for one more attempt - this time yanking at the portrait with more force and successfully pulling it off its brackets.
He then struggles under the weight of the artwork before running away with it.
The restaurant owner's daughter, Amy-Joy Walker - who was in the kitchen at the time - said the man belonged to a 'rowdy' and 'rude' group who came in after a wine tour.
'When he got it off and ran, [my wait staff] said "you've got to be joking". She chased him out the door and then came and got me,' she told WA Today.
Ms Walker said she saw him run across the road with the artwork and into nearby bushland.
'That's when I thought "there's no way I'm going to catch up with him now" - so I just grabbed my sous chef and got in the Jeep, and went off-road looking for him,' she said.
Ms Walker told WA Today they caught up with the man who dropped the artwork in bushland and ran off.