Capture the flag

Only a few people reading this will know what it's about, but I'll explain anyway.

Say that you go out with your friends for a mate's barbequeue.
Say that quite a few of you get drunk. Really drunk.
Say that there's a castle opposite your house.
Say that there's a French flag on display in said castle.

Your first instinct would be to go and nick the flag, right?

No?

Well it was someone's instinct, and someone legged it into a castle (where people actually live) to go and steal the flag. Trouble is, they didn't find the flag. They didn't even come close. They took something much more valuable. Something that the castle owner would miss much more.

They took a metal bowl.

Flag / Metal bowl. Not quite the same thing. In fact, nothing like what they set out for.

Being drunk as they were, the people decided to go back in for the flag. They didn't find it this time either, but were instead spotted by someone living in the castle, and our drunk friends had to escape the castle before they were caught. Without a flag.

So how hard is it to go and nick a bit of material off a pole?

If you're M. Weston or Martin W, quite difficult.