It's been a long 24 hours, but the ordeal may finally be over.

Tery the Tiger might be coming home.

"A guy said he rescued the tiger, and he's bringing him back this afternoon," said Steve King, owner of the Wok & Roll Teriyaki restaurant at Foothills Parkway and Baseline Road in Boulder.

Tery, a 6-foot long, 4-foot tall promotional plastic tiger, was stolen about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, outside of the week-old restaurant.

An employee who was outside holding a "Grand Opening" banner said Tery was cat-napped when the employee stepped inside the store for a moment.

A few minutes later, another employee said he saw the large tiger in the back of a van while he was driving to work.

For the next day, King asked anyone with any information on the tiger's whereabouts to call him or Boulder police.

He even offered a $500 reward for any tips leading to Tery's recovery.

"It's amazing, the interest in the tiger," King said. "It's funny. We've gotten sort of attached to him."

The anonymous caller said he found the black-and-orange tiger on a street corner, King said.

"I'm not sure I believe that (about the street corner), but, anyway, we are going to be reunited this afternoon with our tiger," he said.

Tery joined the King family two years ago, when he and wife got the tiger outside DecorAsian, an Asian-themed home-decor shop on Pearl Street.

Since then, the tiger has been on display at the family's Wok & Roll restaurants around Boulder.

coonsj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5617