How can I stop my cat from continuing this new behavior?

Okay cat people, put your heads together with me.

I have a leaky dishwasher. One of these days I will replace it, but in the meanwhile I keep a dish towel folded under the leaky corner.
Recently my cat has taken to stealing the towel once it is wet and dragging it around the floor yowling like a maniac. (He is a really vocal cat anyhow, that part isn’t unusual.)

Once he moves it away from the dishwasher, he leaves it alone. He loses interest. As soon as I put it back, he goes and takes it. I try to catch him off guard, but he only takes it when I’m not looking. I have to clean up a big puddle on my kitchen floor every day because he will NOT leave it alone. How do I get him to knock it off?