This morning, Carl Nolte of the Chronicle brings our attention to the tale of a man's (adorable) missing cat. Daniel Harlan, 58, a homeless man and pan handler, had his "pug-nosed Himalayan cat named Samantha" stolen from him. (Here is a photo of said cat.)

Nolte notes:

Somebody took Harlan's cat Friday from a homeless encampment under a freeway off-ramp near Eighth and Harrison streets. Harlan had gone off to buy some food for himself and Samantha at a nearby store with money he'd gotten panhandling. He left the cat on a leash tied to his tent. "Somebody just untied the leash and took her," he said Monday. "I was only gone for a few minutes, and when I got back she was gone."

The cat -- described as gray, short hair and a pug nose; "looks like it ran into a wall" -- is "the only thing he really cares about."

"There's only one like it in San Francisco," Harlan said, a heart-pulverizing sentiment with which any cat owner is familiar.

Just what kind of reward he will give for the safe return of his cat is unknown. (And, really, would you take a reward from a homeless person?) But he does, as Notle goes on to point out, have a cell phone. If you know there whereabouts of Samantha, or know what misguided soul swiped the feline, give Harlan a call at 415-724-0095.