How Do You Steal A 9.5 Foot Python

Color me confused about this:

"Authorities are looking for a python that was reported stolen from a petting zoo in Fort Myers.
The snake's owner told Lee County deputies that the 9-and-a-half-foot female was locked in its cage Saturday night, but was gone the next morning.

The snake was part of a petting zoo set up in a tent in a shopping center parking lot. The lock on the snake's cage was cut, and a blanket covering the cage had been lifted."