You could call it an unsuccessful withdrawal.

Mounties are investigating after a trio of crooks yanked an ATM out of a Kelowna, B.C. gas station, only to lose the loot a short distance away.

Surveillance cameras captured three suspects driving up to the store, located on Highway 97 North, in an older-model van around 4 a.m. Sunday.

Two of the men can be seen breaking in and looping a chain around the ATM before the driver pulls ahead and tugs it through the glass doors in the front.

Unable to property load the machine into the back of the vehicle, the suspects then flee with the ATM dragging behind them, kicking up a shower of sparks. Fortunately, the RCMP said the ATM detached roughly 50 feet down the road.

“It’s great this time that they actually were unsuccessful and the ATM was successfully recovered,” Const. Jess O’Donaghey said.

Had the culprits actually managed to steal the machine, they still would have faced an uphill battle trying to get at the contents, he added.

“These machines are extremely heavy and very well-secured,” O’Donaghey said. “Had they escaped with it, chances are they would have had a great deal of difficulty actually gaining access.”

Mounties are still trying to identify the suspects and suspect vehicle, which is described as a two-tone van that’s part silver and part dark-coloured.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Kelowna RCMP detachment at 250-762-3300, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 to remain anonymous.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Kent Molgat