ZURICH, March 28 (Reuters) - Twelve tons of KitKat chocolate bars went missing in Europe last week after thieves made off with the truck transporting them, Swiss food giant Nestle NESN.S said on Saturday.

KitKat, which is made by Nestle, said the truck carrying 413,793 bars of its new range set off from central Italy to distribute the chocolate throughout Europe, but never reached its scheduled final destination in Poland.

The vehicle and the merchandise remain unaccounted for. Nestle did not reveal where exactly the truck was lost.

In a separate statement, KitKat said the missing bars are traceable via a unique batch code. Anyone scanning the batch numbers of the stolen chocolate would receive instructions on how to contact KitKat.

“Whilst we appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes,” KitKat said.

(Writing by Dave GrahamEditing by Keith Weir)

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