The 10 most daring valuables thefts in history

Do you think it is possible to steal the Empire State Building – a 102-story skyscraper? It’s impossible, you say. However, this actually happened. Did you know that the famous painting by da Vinci – “Mona Lisa” was also once stolen? today we will talk about the 10 most daring thefts in history. By the way, some of the stolen valuables have not yet been found.

1. “Mona Lisa”

One of the most daring thefts in history was the theft of the famous painting”Mona Lisa”  by Leonardo da Vinci from the Louvre. This happened in 1911.

Vincenzo Peruggia worked as a glazier at the Louvre. One day he noticed that no one was guarding the painting and could not resist the temptation to steal it. Vincenzo went straight to the painting, took it down from the wall, got rid of the frame on the stairs, then hid the Gioconda under his coat and left the museum as if nothing had happened.

For two whole years, he kept it in his Paris apartment in a suitcase with a double bottom. The robber was caught while trying to sell a stolen painting in Italy.

2. “Scream”

The Scream by Edvard Munch is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world. She hangs next to the famous painting “Mona Lisa” and also became a victim of daring robbers.

In 2004, two masked armed men broke into the Munch Museum in Oslo and, threatening the guards with violence, grabbed the painting “The Scream” and ran out of the museum.

For two years, no one knew what had happened to the stolen masterpiece of art. How the stolen painting was found unexpectedly, but under what circumstances, is unknown.

3. Dorothy’s shoes from The Wizard of Oz

The red satin sequinned shoes worn by Dorothy (Judy Garland) in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz are estimated to be worth $1-2 million. This pair of “witch shoes”- was once on display at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The shoes simply vanished in 2005. No one noticed anything, and no one knew how they vanished. The case remained unresolved despite the fact that detectives had two suspects.

4. Artwork from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston

It was a theft the world had never seen. Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, Manet… priceless paintings have disappeared like a stone into water.

March 18, 1990. Early morning. Two men dressed as police officers enter the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. They must have known that the museum was not well guarded. The robbers easily tied up two inexperienced guards and gagged them. Then they chose the paintings they would take with them for more than an hour (more precisely, 81 minutes).

Vermeer’s Concerto, one of only 36 known works by the Dutch painter, is the most precious of the stolen paintings, valued at $250 million. Daring robbers stole 13 paintings worth at least $500 million dollars in total. What happened to the paintings after that, and where they are now, is unknown.

5. Empire State Building

 Yes, yes, this huge 102-story building, located in Manhattan, New York, was also once stolen. True, it was not quite a real theft, but only a provocation. Two Daily News journalists forged documents confirming their ownership of this building in just 90 minutes.

They presented the officials with a notarial deed, which was signed not by a real notary, but by the legendary bank robber Willy Saton. There was such a mess in municipal documents that no one noticed the catch.

 Journalists owned the luxurious building all day, and then they themselves admitted that they forged documents to show how easy it is to steal even a skyscraper in such confusion.

6. Saliere – golden Italian salt shaker

Salieri was commissioned by French King Francis I in the 16th century and created by Benvenuto Cellini, an Italian sculptor, and jeweler. . According to experts, its market price is $65 million.

On the night of May 10-11, 2003, during the reconstruction of the facade of the Salière museum, they stole it. As it turned out later, the thief was the museum’s technician, Robert Manga. The museum offered a €70,000 reward for helping to find Salière. But they found it only three years later, buried in a metal box in a forest in Austria.

The thief, Robert Mang, claimed that he just wanted to prove the museum’s security system was ineffective, but the court did not believe him and sentenced him to four years in prison.

7. Bell of the monks from Tacoma

It takes true courage to steal a 1,360-kilogram bell from a Buddhist temple. The robbery occurred in Tacoma, Washington. If the thieves were not superheroes with supernatural abilities, the local police concluded that at least a forklift and a truck should have been used during the crime and that someone should have heard something.

The thieves, on the other hand, stole the massive bell in such a quiet manner that none of the monks noticed anything unusual. The monks were unable to determine the value of the stolen items, but the bell, which was handcrafted in Vietnam, was precious to them.

It was found only three years later when someone tried to sell it for scrap. The prospective buyer went straight to the police, and thus the thieves were caught.

8. “The biggest wardrobe in the world”

Teresa Roemer, 52, a businesswoman and former Miss Texas, possessed the largest walk-in closet in the world, according to the media. The three-story dressing room had a total area of more than 300 square meters. It has amassed a significant collection of high-end purses, Louboutin shoes, dresses, and accessories worth more than $ 2 million over the past 30 years.

Mrs. Roemer’s clothes were stolen in early August of this year. The thieves entered through the bathroom window when she and her husband were not at home.  As the owner herself later admitted, she forgot to close the window and turn on the alarm. The thieves stole not only designer clothes and accessories but also a locket with a lock of hair from Teresa Roemer’s dead son.

Must Read: some Strange and Disgusting Facts About Victorian Britain

The investigation is still ongoing, and the perpetrators are still walking free.

9. Dinosaur bones

Four years ago, news stories around the world reported that a Florida-born man named Eric Prokopi stole dinosaur skeleton bones from Mongolia, valued at $1 million. He even managed to ship the bones to the US but got caught trying to sell them at auction.

Surprisingly, the offender received a very lenient sentence – only a month in prison. Dinosaur bones have been returned to Mongolia.

10. Violin Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius

In 1995, a $3.5 million Stradivarius violin from 1727 was stolen from the apartment of renowned violinist Erica Morini.

It is still unknown why it was stolen, as it is impossible to sell considering the lack of a black market for such antiquities. Erica Morini was at home at the time, which makes the robbery all the more daring and tragic. She was 91 years old when she was killed during the attack. The mystery surrounding the lost Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius violin remains unsolved.