Charleston, S.C. — Somebody — as a matter of fact, a number of somebodies, got bicycles for Christmas without having to go to the trouble of paying for them.

Twenty-two yellow bicycles, which were put out on Christmas Eve for city residents to use, were stolen less than a week later. But the man who started the program, similar to those in place in several other cities, isn't giving up.

Kevin Condon, who started the non-profit Port City Bike Program, has been inundated with offers of more bikes to replace those taken.

The program is modeled on one that began in Portland, Ore., which currently has 800 bicycles on the street. (The first 10 placed in downtown Portland were, like Condon's, stolen.) Each bike sports a Port City sticker and instructions to use the bike and leave it somewhere in the city for the next resident.