JB Lacroix/WireImage

It's been years since David Hasselhoff played the hunky Mitch Buchannon on "Baywatch," but the actor appears still to be a hot commodity.

He's in such demand that about 550 life-sized cardboard cutouts of him have been stolen from outside Cumberland Farms conveniences stores across New England in the past few weeks.

The cutouts - which feature a smiling, tank-top clad Hasselhoff holding a cup of iced coffee - were part of the chain's iced coffee promotion.

Cumberland's brand strategy specialist Kate Ngo told The Associated Press that only about 20 cutouts remain for the roughly 570 stores in New England and Florida.

Ngo told the AP that Cumberland was flattered by the attention to its ads featuring the actor and just asked that anyone with a Hasselhoff cutout keep it safe.

The actor, who has come to be known as "the Hoff," is tickled by the news.

"When I found out that they were stealing them I laughed really hard, because I thought it was pretty funny," Hasselhoff said in an interview with WDHD-TV in Boston, adding that he was humbled to know people were still following him after so many years.

"I just hope nobody gets in trouble," he said. "But I encourage everybody to go out and see what they can do about stealing a Hoff. But please have a cup of coffee while doing it."