No end in sight to problem of toilet paper thieves

Beijing spends more than 20,000 yuan ($3,168) on toilet paper for each public toilet block annually, according to a city management bureau official, while the paper continues to go missing, either wasted or stolen.

Of the city's 12,000 public toilets, only 3,000 offer toilet paper because it costs too much, according to an official with the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Management and Environment, the Beijing Evening News reported.

There are still people wasting or stealing toilet paper from public toilets, especially in parks like Taoranting Park, Xicheng district, the report said, despite intense public and media criticism of toilet paper thieves.

A public toilet at Meishuguan Houjie, Dongcheng district, offers free paper only to those who ask for it from attendants, while Taoranting Park has installed an automatic toilet paper distributor in their public toilets to save paper, which dispenses about 70 centimeters of toilet roll.

However, some visitors find the amount given by the machine is not enough. They click the button many times and take some paper with them when leaving, the report said.

"Stealing toilet paper is very common, not only in Beijing. But we can't do anything about it since some paper thieves may pick a fight with you if you try to persuade them, even if you ask nicely," said a resident in Daxing district, surnamed Bao.

Cao Guoliang, 48, said he often saw people stealing toilet paper from Chaoyang Park's toilets.

"Well, it's not a big deal for them," he said.

"Greedy and petty people can steal anything. Some take the manhole covers, and when I was little, people took doors from public toilets and put them in their kitchen," he said.