Austria museum heist: Thieves snatch diamond necklace

Two men entered Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) during daylight hours and made off with a highly valuable 200-carat platinum and diamond necklace estimated to be worth several million dollars. This incident, which occurred on Thursday, is the latest in a series of major thefts targeting European museums over the past year.

The thieves purchased tickets to gain entry to the museum. Once inside, they proceeded to the temporary exhibition showcasing French designer Van Cleef and Arpels. They smashed a glass display case using a hammer and made their escape with the stolen jewelry in an undisclosed direction. The robbers were not masked and were captured on surveillance cameras.

One of the suspects allegedly possessed a real firearm during the heist. Eyewitnesses and security personnel were present in the room when the display case was broken, and it is understandable that security personnel did not interfere with the armed perpetrator. The MAK museum confirmed the theft but has not provided further details.

The museum continues to promote its exhibition, which is scheduled to run until September 27. The stolen necklace belonged to Egypt's deposed Queen Nazli and was originally designed for her daughter's marriage to the future Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The necklace is composed of platinum and over 673 precious stones, weighing more than 200 carats in total.

The case of the stolen necklace is the most recent in a series of high-profile museum heists occurring across Europe in recent months. The most significant theft took place last October at the Louvre museum in Paris, where thieves stole jewelry valued at $102 million (approximately €88 million) within eight minutes. Museum thefts have also been reported in Italy and Spain.