You could always buy a replacement tailgate with step and appliqué.
A replacement tail gate, in the event of it being stolen, cost's around 5k. There's a lot of parts to a tailgate and then they have to be built/painted. That's the average rate I see at my dealer (I'm a Service Advisor and we have a full bodyshop)
I would, like others have, buy the piece from parts counter and have it put on if I ever decided I was missing it.