Police in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, recently detained a former employee of an investment company for stealing books at a university in order to make enough money to buy a train ticket home.

The 27-year-old man, surnamed Chang, had graduated from a Beijing university and worked at an investment company that traded in commodity futures. Each night, he studied finance at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, according to Yangtze Evening News.

In December, Chang lost all of his savings on an investment and was living on borrowed money. To raise enough money for a train ticket home, he began stealing books left in the classroom at the Nanjing university and selling them for money. On Jan 21, police caught him stealing some books and detained him.

Contact the writer at wanghongyi@chinadaily.com.cn