&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "They bought tickets to steal: Thieves walk into Austria museum and flee with 200-carat platinum diamond necklace")
Europe is witnessing a string of Hollywood-style museum heists, with the latest theft taking place at Austria’s Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) on Friday. Two thieves entered the museum after buying tickets and walked away with a 200-carat platinum and diamond necklace.
The unusual part of the raid was how openly it was carried out. According to police, the two men entered the museum without wearing masks and were clearly visible on surveillance cameras. They did not use any fancy entrance or attempt to conceal their identities.
Police said they "smashed a glass display case" with a hammer before "fleeing with the jewellery in an unknown direction".
As per Austrian media reports, the Van Cleef and Arpels necklace contains 673 precious stones and was worth several million dollars. The theft is the latest in a series of high-profile museum heists across Europe.
The necklace was part of an exhibition dedicated to French designers Van Cleef and Arpels. Around 500 pieces had been on display since June. The exhibition was scheduled to run until September 27 but has now been closed following the theft.
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A necklace with royal history
The necklace was designed for the former Egyptian royal family. Queen Nazli wore it in 1939 for the wedding of her daughter Faiza to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who later became the Shah of Iran.
Van Cleef and Arpels described the stolen piece on its website as a "triumph of white jewellery". The French company did not immediately comment on the theft.
The latest raid comes as European museums face a series of spectacular thefts. In October, thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris in broad daylight and escaped in less than eight minutes with jewellery worth $102 million.
On Thursday, thieves in Spain staged another rapid raid at the historic Treasure of Villena museum, stealing most of its collection in a heist that lasted just four minutes. The stolen gold alone is worth around 1.7 million euros, or $2 million.
The collection also includes several other historical artefacts whose value cannot be determined.
The raid targeted more than 50 objects, mainly made of gold, at the museum in the Spanish town of Villena.
A town council spokesman said, "The alarm at the Villena Museum went off around 5:20 am (0320 GMT)." He added that the thieves had left the building by 5:24 am.
