Given information:
- The first thief steals half the total number of loaves of bread plus 1/2 loaf from the bakery.
- The second thief steals half the remaining number of loaves plus 1/2 loaf.
- This process continues until the fifth thief steals from the remaining loaves, leaving none in the bakery.

To find:
The total number of loaves the bakery had at the beginning.

Solution:
Let's work backwards to find the number of loaves at each step.

Step 1:
After the fifth thief steals, there are no more loaves left in the bakery. This means that the number of loaves stolen by the fifth thief is the total number of loaves the bakery had after the fourth thief.

Step 2:
Let's assume that after the fourth thief steals, there are 'x' loaves left in the bakery. This means that the number of loaves stolen by the fourth thief is half of 'x' plus 1/2 loaf. Therefore, the number of loaves the bakery had after the third thief is 2*(half of 'x' plus 1/2 loaf).

Step 3:
Similarly, let's assume that after the third thief steals, there are 'y' loaves left in the bakery. This means that the number of loaves stolen by the third thief is half of 'y' plus 1/2 loaf. Therefore, the number of loaves the bakery had after the second thief is 2*(half of 'y' plus 1/2 loaf).

Step 4:
Continuing this pattern, let's assume that after the second thief steals, there are 'z' loaves left in the bakery. This means that the number of loaves stolen by the second thief is half of 'z' plus 1/2 loaf. Therefore, the number of loaves the bakery had after the first thief is 2*(half of 'z' plus 1/2 loaf).

Step 5:
Finally, let's assume that after the first thief steals, there are 'w' loaves left in the bakery. This means that the number of loaves stolen by the first thief is half of 'w' plus 1/2 loaf. Since this is the starting point, 'w' represents the total number of loaves the bakery had at the beginning.

Final Equation:
Using the information from the previous steps, we can create an equation:
w = 2*(half of 'z' plus 1/2 loaf)
z = 2*(half of 'y' plus 1/2 loaf)
y = 2*(half of 'x' plus 1/2 loaf)
x = 2*(half of stolen loaves by the fifth thief)

Simplifying the Equation:
Since we know that after the fifth thief steals, there are no more loaves left in the bakery, we can substitute 'x' with the number of loaves stolen by the fifth thief.
Therefore, x = 0.

Plugging this value into the equation for 'y':
y = 2*(half of 0 plus 1/2 loaf)
y = 2*(0 + 1/2)
y = 2*(1/2