The Streets' Mike Skinner Snags A Tiger

Mike Skinner, better known as The Streets, is a thief.

The Mercury Prize nominee has fessed up to stealing a tiger while travelling through Germany earlier this month.

The British rapper is no Siegfried or Roy, however. It wasn't a real tiger. The giant stuffed animal was taken on March 10, and Skinner has now admitted his guilt to the illegal adoption.

"Apologies to German authorities," Skinner confessed on his MySpace page, where a picture of him riding the big cat is also available.

"The tiger was stolen from a motorway service station at approximately 3 a.m. the other night between Hamburg and Koln I think, or maybe it was between Hamburg and Berlin. My facts aren't sure.

"He was looking very lonely on the top shelf next to the porn and engine oil. The guy didn't see him jacked from the store and we understand that he was worth 200 euros."

Skinner also offered a solution to the incident by pleading, "If you get in contact maybe we can return Tony (as we have named him) in exchange for amnesty from deportation and/or criminal charges being pressed."

Hopefully The Streets will at least give the tiger a comfortable living space on the tour bus as Skinner is setting out on a short U.K. tour in April in support of his new album.

The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living will be out on April 25 on 679 Recordings.