A regional pub has turned to a humorous way to plead with drinkers to stop stealing its pint glasses, as a state hotel boss reveals the strange items among costly thefts plaguing venues.

Waikerie Hotel Motel, in South Australia’s Riverland region, has posted a plea to social media calling on its customers to “please stop taking our glasses home”.

The Facebook video posted late last week shows hotel staff pouring beer into alternative drinking vessels such as a soup ladle, shot glass, and even cupped hands, as they grapple with the costly results of dwindling pint glass numbers.

Australian Hotels Association SA CEO Anna Moeller said stolen beer and wine glasses had been an issue for hospitality venues for years.

“Often, the only time you realise that a lot of glasses have gone missing is when you start to run out on a Friday night, when it’s really busy,” Moeller said.

“There’s a frustrating aspect to it, but the other part of it is that it’s expensive.”

Replacing stolen glasses can cost venue owners hundreds of dollars every month. Moeller said she’d been unable to get an exact figure, other than it being “very expensive”.

And it is not just glasses that catch the eye of pub-goers.

“In the past week, we’ve had a pub that has had their toilet brushes stolen, and we’ve had pubs that have had fire extinguishers stolen. Theft does not discriminate,” Moeller said.

The most commonly targeted glasses include high-quality wine glass brands such as Riedel and special Japanese pint glasses used for brands such as Asahi and Kirin. Branded beer glasses, including for Guinness and Heineken, are also popular as illegal souvenirs for pub-goers.

Riedel champagne and wine glasses can cost up to $210 for boxes of four, while beer glasses for brands such as Guinness can be up to $15 each.

Beer glass wholesaler Nisbets said a pack of 48 Headmaster-branded pint glasses, which are most commonly used, cost about $139.90 – or $2.92 each.

“It’s not just that the glasses get stolen, but they get broken a lot as well. So it’s already quite an expense,” Moeller said.

She wouldn’t rule out pubs introducing BYO glasses, but allayed fears customers would wear the cost of replacing glasses.

“Because this has been happening forever, you’re not going to see a sudden increase in the cost of a schnitzel or the cost of a pint because people are nicking glasses,” she said.

“There’s a thing going around to bring your own coffee cup. So you never know, watch this space and you might see it happen at pubs.”