KFC is offering $500 worth of grilled chicken as a reward for information leading to the return of a bust of Col. Harland Sanders that was taken from a Berea KFC last month.

"We want the Colonel back in our Berea restaurant, and we want the authorities to have the chance to 'grill' the 'chickens' who stole him," KFC spokesman Rick Maynard wrote in an e-mail.

The bronze bust, valued at about $1,200, was taken from the lobby of the KFC on Chestnut Street Jan. 24. Four young men who looked to be of high school or college age had been the only customers during the time frame that the bust disappeared. They and the Colonel are thought to have left in a silver passenger car.

Maynard said the chain considered offering cash, "but we think KFC's world-famous chicken is a better motivator than money."

Anyone with information about the Colonel's whereabouts should contact the Berea Police Department.