Falcon Theft a Publicity Stunt?

Mark Coggins in San Francisco speculates on the 'stolen' reproduction of the Maltese Falcon:

In an earlier post, I relayed a story from the San Francisco Chronicle that the signed reproduction of the Maltese Falcon at John's Grill--the place where Sam Spade orders chops in the book--had been stolen. Now I'm hearing speculation from a variety of sources that the theft was a publicity stunt by the owner of the restaurant. The two main pieces of evidence cited: 'No sign of forced entry and no damage to the cabinet where the falcon and other stolen items were stored, suggesting an "inside job." The reproduction in question is not the falcon that appeared in the movie, which was made of lead and was supposedly dropped by Bogart on his toe during filming. It's a plaster version that was used for publicity stills and wasn't really worth that much, even with Elisha Cook's signature ... the point being that it's unlikely anyone would think it worth the risk to steal it.' Read more on the Chronicle's NWZCHIK blog entry on the topic...