Two men have stolen a diamond-encrusted necklace worth more than $4 million in a daring daylight robbery at a museum in Vienna, Austria.
The suspects reportedly posed as visitors at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) before smashing a glass display case with a hammer and escaping with the valuable necklace.
Austrian police have launched a manhunt for the two men and released CCTV images showing the suspects before they entered the exhibition. Investigators believe the pair fled on foot towards a nearby park after the theft.
No one was injured during the incident, although police believe one of the suspects may have been carrying a firearm.
Authorities said extensive search operations, including the deployment of police dogs, are underway. Interpol has also added the stolen necklace to its database of stolen artworks and cultural property.
The necklace, which was on loan from French luxury jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels, was being displayed as part of an exhibition featuring more than 300 of the brand’s designs alongside pieces from the museum’s collection.
The historic necklace was created in the 1930s for Queen Nazli of Egypt. It features 673 diamonds with a combined weight of more than 200 carats, including a six-carat central diamond surrounded by baguette-cut stones and hundreds of smaller diamonds arranged in a sunburst design.
Queen Nazli commissioned the necklace and a matching tiara for the 1939 wedding of her daughter, Princess Fawzia.
The necklace was later sold by Queen Nazli in the 1970s after she moved to the United States. It resurfaced at a Sotheby’s auction in 2015, where it was sold for nearly $4.3 million.
Queen Nazli’s great-granddaughter, Fawzia Farouk, expressed sadness over the theft, describing the necklace as an irreplaceable part of her family’s history and Egypt’s cultural heritage.
The museum temporarily closed the exhibition following the robbery but later reopened it. A blue panel was installed over the damaged display case, while additional security measures, including metal detectors, were reportedly introduced.
MAK director general Lilli Hollein said the theft had deeply affected the museum and prompted a review of its security measures.
The robbery is the latest in a series of increasingly bold museum heists across Europe, with law enforcement agencies warning of a rise in violent and forceful tactics targeting valuable cultural objects and precious metals.
Europol has described museum robberies as increasingly attractive to criminals because of the potential for high profits, with thieves targeting items that can be quickly removed and potentially sold.
