Thieves broke into Dresden’s Green Vault, one of the world’s oldest museums, early Monday morning, making off with three “priceless” sets of 18th-century jewellery that German officials said would be impossible to sell on the open market, SIA reports referring to AP.
Authorities said it appeared the thieves had broken open only one glass case containing three sets of Baroque jewellery made up of dozens of gems each.Police said they have established a special investigation team, codenamed "Epaulette" and comprising 20 specialist officers, to solve the case. Museum officials said the sets that were stolen included intricate and dazzling brooches, buttons, buckles and other items.Green Vault director Dirk Syndram stressed that the collections in the museum have “invaluable cultural value” — particularly their completeness.Police said they were alerted shortly before 5 am (0300 GMT) by unarmed museum security guards who had spotted two burglars inside the downtown museum on video surveillance cameras.
The first officers arrived on the scene within minutes but the thieves had already fled in a waiting getaway car, which managed to elude immediate attempts to find it in the surrounding area and on the nearby highway, Dresden police chief Joerg Kubiessa told reporters.Police later confirmed that an Audi A6 matching the description of the getaway car was found burned out in an underground parking lot in Dresden.Investigators suspect that a fire at an electrical junction box near the museum, which took out the streetlights at the time of the robbery, was linked to the crime, police said. The outage affected lights in front of a window through which the thieves gained entrance, somehow getting through bars and safety glass to reach the Jewel Room.Security footage released by police showed two hooded figures entering the room, then smashing open the glass case with an ax.
Dresden’s State Art Collections director, Marion Ackermann, said it was impossible to estimate the value of the items.Exhibition rooms at the museum focus on treasures featuring jewels, ivory, silver and amber among other objects.One of its most famous and precious treasures, the Dresden Green Diamond, is currently on loan with other valuable pieces to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for an exhibit.The 41-carat green diamond was acquired by Augustus III, the son of Augustus the Strong, in 1742, according to the museum.The museum said that at the time of its purchase it cost 400,000 thalers, compared to the 288,000 thalers it cost to build Dresden’s lavish Frauenkirche church at around the same time.
Bütün xəbərlər Facebook səhifəmizdə
USD
EUR
GBP
RUB