Interesting statement, but let me pose a couple of questions to you:

Let's say you go into a real estate agent's office and he has a bunch of business cards in a holder on his desk. Would you feel comfortable taking one and putting it in your pocket.

Whose property would you say those business cards are?

Let's say he has a cup full of pens with his agency phone number on them. Would you feel comfortable taking one of these and putting it in your pocket?

Whose property would you say those pens are?

How about if you go into a casino and pick up a logo'ed matchbook. Would you feel comfortable taking one of those?

How about if you go into a casino and pick up a logo'ed swizzle stick from your drink. Would you feel comfortable taking one of those?

How about if you go into a casino and pick up a logo'ed ash tray and put it into your pocket. Would you feel comfortable taking one of those?

Where would you draw the line? According to at least one post in this thread, those ashtrays are considered promotional items by at least one casino.

The concept of "stealing" is not all that clear cut and your statement that "...it's unlawful to take anyone's property, anywhere" makes little sense, since you left out the concept of expressed or implied permission.

I would also say, regarding Gene's absolutely correct statement that chips (specifically value chips) remain the property of the casino, that there is an implied permission to remove this type of chip from the premises, since I doubt that anyone has ever heard of casinos chasing or making an issue of them as they do roulettes. Additionally, I believe that any casino that has ever sold chips specifically designed for collectors from their cages (which is a lot of them) would not have a legal leg to stand on were they ever to knock on your door and demand their property back. But then again, I'm no lawyer.