I bought the street cleaner and it disappeared

Sorry, I misunderstood your problem. I thought you didn't get the item, not the donuts.

Did you try logging out of the game and then logging back in? I had that issue myself and when I logged back in the donuts were there.

tried to log out, log in, uninstall, reinstall, use a different device, etc... still can not find the goofy thing. I have a very decorated town and what may be the issue is that its behind something. I looked in xray mode and literally moved most every item I have with no luck. ill keep looking. ty for the suggestions

Shortly after buying this item, I was utterly convinced that it was missing from my Springfield. I did the x-ray bit and everything. Then, during a later trip to my town, there it was. Frankly, I sorta wonder whether there is something a bit "off" with the implementation of this NPC.