AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hopes to expand a north Austin restaurant’s operations are now hobbled after a brazen theft early Sunday morning.

A surveillance camera captured someone driving a large, dark-colored truck steal a food trailer from a parking space directly in front of the Le Bleu Vietnamese restaurant, located at 9070 Research Blvd. near Burnet Road. Trinh Nguyen, the restaurant’s co-owner, said this happened sometime at about 6 a.m.

“It’s lost,” Nguyen said while looking at the empty parking spot with tears in her eyes, “but I guess we can find some way to make it back.”

She bought the bright green trailer in 2020 and outfitted the inside with cooking equipment. On the outside, it has a large circular black sticker reading “Saigon Le Vendeur.” Even though it has such a distinctive look, Nguyen said she’s not convinced she’ll ever see the food trailer again.

“I don’t really have high hopes about it,” Nguyen said. “I’m sure it’s in somebody’s garage right now got redone again in order for them to sell it out, I guess so, because why else would they take the truck?”

  • Security cameras captured the large, dark-colored truck that pulled away the green “Saigon Le Vendeur” food trailer parked in front of the Le Bleu restaurant in north Austin. (KXAN photo)

She said she tried to prevent a theft like this from happening by keeping the tires slightly deflated, but that was not enough to stop someone from taking it. She reported the theft to Austin 3-1-1 since the crime is not an emergency, and now she said she’s waiting to speak with a detective. She also posted on social media trying to spread the word in case someone sees her trailer.

“So far we don’t have any leads on it yet,” Nguyen said.

She told KXAN she dreamed of using the trailer to start serving lunch downtown, but those plans may not happen unless her equipment somehow makes it back to the spot where it belongs.

“My first thought is it’s gone. There’s nothing we can do to get it back,” Nguyen said.

Anyone who sees the food trailer or knows its whereabouts should call Austin police.

A spokesperson for Austin 3-1-1 said the department is working to share information about how many food truck break-ins or thefts have happened recently. KXAN will update this story once those numbers are made available.