Thieves buy museum tickets before stealing multi-million dollar necklace

In a brazen act, two men purchased tickets to gain entry to Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) before executing a theft of a high-value necklace. The duo smashed a display case with a hammer and escaped with the platinum and diamond piece, which police stated was worth several million dollars.

According to police reports, the thieves did not wear masks and were clearly captured on surveillance cameras during Thursday's heist. They "smashed a glass display case" and then "fled with the jewellery in an unknown direction." The MAK museum confirmed the theft but declined to comment further while the investigation is ongoing.

The stolen necklace, a creation of the renowned French designers Van Cleef and Arpels, featured 673 precious stones and was a centerpiece of an exhibition showcasing approximately 500 of the company's pieces since June. The exhibition is scheduled to close on September 27. The wing where the theft occurred reopened hours after the incident, though the smashed display case was covered by a blue panel.

This theft adds to a growing list of significant heists at European museums. Notably, thieves previously broke into the Louvre in Paris, making off with jewelry valued at $102 million. More recently, a museum in Villena, Spain, was raided, with most of its Treasure of Villena collection stolen. Additionally, four valuable works by Antonello da Messina were taken from a Sicilian museum, and Italian police recently recovered paintings by Renoir, Cezanne, and Matisse worth over $10.4 million.