French news networks are reporting that two masked men stole some 6,000 copies of Activision’s upcoming first-person shooter from a delivery truck south of Paris.

Activision has already suffered a setback this week concerning the upcoming release of the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, with sealed copies of the game surfacing on a number of online auctions two days before launch.

Now, it appears two individuals in France also wanted to get their hands on an early copy of the first-person shooter. French news networks are reporting that two masked men armed with tear gas and knives hijacked a truck near Paris and fled with its cargo, which contained around 6,000 copies of Modern Warfare 3.

If someone from France offers you a copy of MW3, don’t say yes!…Give it to me and i’ll keep it safe

According to a report from TF1 news channel, and as translated by GameSpot, two men crashed into a van transporting a cargo of boxed video game copies near Cr’teil, 10 kilometres south-east of Paris, around 8am yesterday morning. When the van’s driver and occupants left the vehicle after the crash, two masked men used tear-gas and drove away in the van, taking the cargo with them.

According to a Agence France Presse (AFP) report, the van’s cargo contained 400,000 Euros of merchandise, all copies of Modern Warfare 3. The news report estimates the number of copies at around 6,000.

Last week, Infinity Ward representative Robert Bowling spoke for the Modern Warfare 3 developer on Twitter, saying, “No plans to ban legit fans, but try to wait ’til midnight launch on Tuesday to play #MW3.”

Meantime enjoy this NEW awesome trailer!