A group of shop owners have accused local law enforcement officers of seizing their sweet dumplings and giving them as gifts to old people's homes, CNTV.com reported Tuesday.

Officers from the City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau or chengguan, in Shuangcheng city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province confiscated the festival treats on Feb 2.

Vendor Zhang Wei said his boxes of sweet dumplings went missing just two hours after he put them outside his store. Another small store boss Guo Zhenyu said he also lost about 60 packets of sweet dumplings on the same day.

Both were told their goods had been sent to the city's homes for the elderly after enquiring at the city management bureau.

The vice-director of the Shuangcheng city's nursing homes confirmed they received more than 140 packets of sweet dumplings from the city management bureau and said officers always donate confiscated goods to them.

The director of Shuangcheng's city management bureau Zhou Xudong admitted the officers' behavior was inappropriate and they had been punished.

City management officers, or chengguan, operate in all Chinese cities. Their primary responsibilities include patrolling communities to deter illegal street vendors, cabs and unauthorized construction projects. The officers have faced criticism from Chinese citizens in the past for their heavy-handed law enforcement tactics.