Vienna, Austria — Ekhbary News Agency
Austrian police are actively searching for two men implicated in the theft of a priceless 200-carat platinum necklace, adorned with 673 diamonds, from Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). This historic piece, previously owned by Egyptian royalty, vanished during a brazen smash-and-grab raid on Thursday afternoon, adding to a troubling series of cultural institution heists across Europe.
Details of the Daring Robbery
Security cameras captured images of the unmasked suspects, who purchased exhibition tickets before using a hammer to shatter a glass display case during the museum's operating hours. The perpetrators fled with the diamond necklace in an unknown direction, police confirmed, launching a city-wide search involving officers and a tracking dog. For what it's worth, investigators, according to the Kronen newspaper, suspect the men were likely executing a "contract job" for a criminal organization, underscoring the professional nature of such high-value thefts.
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Historical Significance and Broader Concerns
The stolen necklace, a highlight of a Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition featuring over 300 works, once graced Egyptian Queen Consort Nazli. She notably wore it at her daughter Fawzia's 1939 wedding to Iran's then-crown prince. Sotheby's sold the item in 2015 for $4.3 million. This incident, following similar high-profile robberies at the Louvre and the recent theft of bronze age artifacts in Spain, intensifies scrutiny on museum security protocols across the continent. Europol's recent report warns of increasingly violent methods used by thieves targeting European cultural treasures.
