Fox Sports coverage of Monday’s National Hockey League (that’s ice hockey) match between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Ottawa Senators took a sinister turn after a brazen ice cream thief was caught plying his dastardly ways live to air.

During the pre-game coverage, a fan can be seen standing behind the presenter holding an ice cream cone while looking at a friend’s phone.

Distracted, the man then has his icy confection pinched by a fellow Hurricanes supporter only to become completely bamboozled by its disappearance. Check it out below:

As these things tend to do, the clip soon went viral; the Hurricanes even airing the footage during the match in hope of identifying the thief.

so i’m just watching the @Canes game and… pic.twitter.com/zIXTV8m5yk

— Brianna Airington (@bairington44) November 12, 2019

Despite the hilarity of it all, some are now suggesting the whole thing was actually staged by two friends as a stunt.

One sceptic arguing on social media: “My setup detector is going off on this video, BUT that doesn’t mean it’s not still amazing. The kid is holding an ice cream way too low on the cone and high in the air, plus he’s already grinning sheepishly.”

While others just preferred to enjoy it for the sheer cold, calculated joy of it all: