About £40,000 of Champagne was stolen from a lorry parked overnight in a lay-by in Herefordshire - but the thieves ignored a lorry full of Coca-Cola.
The bottles were taken from a Hungarian HGV on the A40 in Ross-on-Wye overnight on Sunday.
Police said it would have taken hours to remove several hundred bottles by hand in full view of other motorists.
The thieves also attacked a lorry in front, but ignored it when they realised it only contained Coca-Cola.
'Very bold'
The lorries were parked in a lay-by on the northbound carriageway of the A40, near the Overross roundabout.
Pc Ed Williams, of Hereford Police, said: "The thieves were very bold, committing the crime almost in front of everyone."
He said the lorries would have been visible to motorists travelling north towards the M50 and the positioning of the trucks, close to a hedge and the main road, meant it would have been impossible to use a fork-lift truck to empty the trailer.
The thieves also broke into an Irish-registered HGV parked in front of the champagne lorry.
They slashed the nearside curtain, but seeing it only contained Coca-Cola concentrate, left the vehicle alone, police said.
The stolen 75cl bottles of 12% alcohol all bore a Nicole d'Aurigny label.
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