Beijing, Apr 17 (IANS): China's notorious toilet paper thieves have struck again, stripping a park in Sichuan province of 1,500 rolls in just one week, the media reported on Monday.

As a part of efforts under the nationwide "toilet revolution" campaign, management at the People's Park in Chengdu city started providing free toilet paper in all its stalls on April 8, the Global Times reported.

However, park authorities found that the first batch of 1,500 rolls of paper disappeared in seven days, according to Chengdu Business Daily.

Feng Huiling, secretary of the park's Party branch, told the daily that an investigation found that 30 bathroom stalls were emptied of paper in just one hour. Toilet paper use far exceeded expectations.

The toilet paper thieves may cost the park up to 100,000 yuan ($14,520) a year, said Feng, adding that some tourists were caught dismantling toilets' pedal flush handles to "sell them for money".

Feng said that if the problem continues, they may follow the example of Beijing's Tiantan Park and install machines with face scanners to regulate use, reports the Global Times.

Tiantan Park, home to the Temple of Heaven, introduced six high-tech dispensers that give out toilet paper only after conducting a facial scan.

The pilot programme began after Tantan authorities faced an increasing number of local residents raiding the park's restrooms for toilet paper.

Tourists now must allow the machine to scan their faces before it dispenses a 60-cm serving of toilet paper.

The software will deny the same person another helping of toilet paper within nine minutes of their first scan.