Suspect squirrel ... Shelby Township police are seeking those behind the theft of a $173,000 cargo of snack nuts. Source: Facebook Source: Supplied

The suburban Shelby Township Police Department displayed a fleeting glimpse of wit when it came to responding to an unusual theft earlier this month.

A semi trailer filled with 18 pallets of walnuts and other nut varieties was swiped from its parking lot on June 27.

It was found five days later elsewhere in Detroit — but its cargo of nuts was gone.

That’s $A173,000 worth of snack food, swiped.

Earlier this week the Shelby police issued a public appeal for information on the whereabouts of the nuts on its Facebook page.

To accompany the post, nutty police shelled-out for a composite mugshot — of a suspicious squirrel.

This blatant piece of police profiling has a bit of a backstory: The Macombe County community has endured a string of animal antics lately — including goats in parkinglots and window-shopping pigs.

Residents are keeping their eyes open for strangely bulging trees surrounded by empty wrappers — as well as offers of unusually cheap snacks.