A Los Angeles puppeteer who created a web series and touring theatrical show called “Dilly’s World” is asking Los Angeles for help after $40,000 worth of her show’s handmade puppets and props were stolen from outside her Hollywood Hills home.

According to a stolen vehicle report filed with the Los Angeles Police Department, the theft happened on Feb. 9 outside of Smook’s apartment on Beachwood Drive.

Smook posted on Instagram that same day, saying the props were inside a U-Haul U-Box on a trailer with Idaho license plates. She said the box was filled with puppets handmade by artists, instruments, props and merch.

“I’m freaking out,” Smook said in the social media post. “I would love support, if you know anything or you know what to do.”

Smook said the U-Haul box was delivered a couple of days earlier from Chicago, where she recently toured with her show. When she went to unpack it Monday, it was nowhere to be found. She said a neighbor’s camera captured some photos of the box before it was stolen.

According to Smook, time is of the essence in this case.

A live “Dilly’s World” show is scheduled to take place at Dynasty Typewriter theater on Feb. 22, and the puppets and props that were stolen were all part of that show.

The puppeteer is trying to raise money online to try to replace the puppets; as of Wednesday, Feb. 11, she had collected nearly $4,900 in donations to “rebuild Dilly’s World.”

Smook posted a list of the stolen items to Instagram. It includes a $10,000 “car prop” and puppets named Dumont, Holstein, Angus, and Phyllis that were each worth $5,000. Custom wigs, a piano, and a drum set were also in the U-Box.

Because her live show is just 11 days away, Smook has already mobilized to rebuild her puppets and props.

“The show will totally go on, and it’s going to be incredible,” she said on Instagram, calling for artists to help her. “Theater is what makes the world go ‘round. Live theater is important.” 

“This is extremely devastating and this does not stop the amazing powers of being a creative person and an artist, and coming together as a community, which is all we need to do all the time,” Smook added on another social media post.

“Dilly’s World” is described as a family show about a girl named Dilly — played by Smook — and her puppet friends living in a “big, whimsical world.” Together, they “confront and solve social emotional issues.”

Tickets for the Feb. 22 show, in person or via livestream, are still available.