Hypocricy...
No, I don't think the visitors had him in their sights .
Yes, according to Q this is theft and I basically see all the points of view here and can't really disagree. However, there is a fine line between theft by cabin crew or theft by office workers or especially management. Yes, I can understand Q has become very strict on theft of alcohol and aircraft equipment. But I still can't come to grips with this rabid vendetta with such trivial stuff that is no cost value to Q as it would have been removed by ground handling and "destroyed". I have 27 years of LH flying and all this latest incident does is make my "disengagement" from Q even stronger. With a couple of years left to my retirement, I will not put myself in the same situation, but I just find the whole thing sad, petty and loaded with hypocrisy when you consider what our so called Management "steal" from Q and it's staff. Not to mention the "$$$$" this will cost Q and the FAAA by the time this gets sorted one way or the other.
But, as Lowerlobe stated "Since we are not privy to the full details and the case has not been heard yet perhaps it is wise if we wait until a decision has been made before we comment further..."