In a brazen daylight robbery, two men entered Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) as visitors and made off with a priceless 200-carat platinum and diamond necklace worth several million dollars, police said on Friday. The heist, which occurred on Thursday, has triggered a cross-border search.

The perpetrators purchased tickets to enter the museum, but once inside, they headed to the temporary exhibition of French designers Van Cleef and Arpels. They smashed a glass display case with a hammer and fled with the jewelry in an unknown direction, according to a police statement. Notably, they did not wear masks and were clearly visible on surveillance cameras.

A police spokeswoman told the German DPA news agency that one of the robbers was carrying what is believed to be a real firearm. Visitors and security staff were present in the room when the display case was smashed, and the spokeswoman noted that it was understandable that security did not confront the armed perpetrator.

The stolen necklace belonged to Egypt's now-deposed Queen Nazli and was designed for her in 1939 for her daughter's marriage to the future Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It is made of platinum and 673 precious stones, weighing over 200 carats. Van Cleef and Arpels describes it on its website as a "triumph of white jewelry."

This case is the latest in a string of heists to hit European museums in recent months. The most high-profile was the Louvre museum break-in in Paris last October, where thieves snatched jewelry worth $102 million in under eight minutes. Similar thefts have also been reported in Italy and Spain.

The MAK museum confirmed the theft but declined to comment further. The exhibition, which features the necklace, is scheduled to run until September 27. Police have expanded their search beyond Austria's borders, and the investigation is ongoing.

Source: www.dw.com