The 10 most audacious thefts of valuables in history

Do you think it's possible to steal the Empire State Building, a 102-story skyscraper? It's impossible, you say. However, this actually happened. Did you know that Da Vinci's famous painting, the Mona Lisa, was also stolen once? Next, we will tell you about the 10 most audacious thefts in history. By the way, some of the stolen valuables have not yet been found.

"Mona Lisa"

One of the most audacious thefts in history was the theft from the Louvre of the famous painting by the great master Leonardo da Vinci - "Mona Lisa". This happened in 1911. Vincenzo Peruggia worked at the Louvre as a glazier. 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 off 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 trying to sell a stolen painting in Italy.

"Scream"

The Scream by Edvard Munch is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world. It hangs next to the famous painting "Mona Lisa" and also became a victim of daring robbers. Munch lived in 1863-1944 and during his life painted several versions of this famous portrait. In 2004, two masked armed men broke into the Munch Museum in Oslo and, threatening the guards with violence, grabbed the painting "Scream" and ran out of the museum. For two years, nothing was known about the fate of the stolen work of art. How suddenly the stolen painting was unexpectedly found, but under what circumstances - is silent.

Dorothy's shoes from the movie "The Wizard of Oz"

The sequined red satin shoes in which Dorothy (Judy Garland) sported in the famous 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" are estimated at $ 1-2 million. At one time, this pair — one of the four famous "witch shoes" — could be seen at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2005, the shoes just disappeared. No one saw anything, and no one could tell how they disappeared. And although the investigators had two suspects, the case remained unsolved.

Artwork from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston

It was a theft the world had never seen. Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, Manet... priceless paintings disappeared like a stone into water. In the photo: the famous painting "Concert" by Vermeer.

March 18, 1990. Early morning. Two men disguised as police officers enter the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. They should have known that the museum was not well guarded. The robbers easily tied up two inexperienced guards and gagged them. And then for more than an hour (more precisely, 81 minutes) they chose the paintings that they would take with them. The most valuable of the stolen paintings is Vermeer's "Concert" — this is one of only 36 known works by the Dutch master, worth 250 million dollars. In total, the daring robbers stole 13 paintings worth at least five hundred million US dollars. What happened next with the paintings and where they are now is still unknown.

Empire State Building

Yes, yes, this huge 102-storey building, located in Manhattan in New York, was also stolen once. However, it was not quite a real theft, but only a provocation. Two Daily News journalists forged documents confirming their right to own 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 the municipal documents that no one noticed the catch. The journalists owned a gorgeous building for a whole day, and then they themselves admitted that they had forged documents to show how easy it is to steal even a skyscraper in such a mess.

Saliere - golden Italian salt shaker

The Saliere was made in the XVI century by Benvenuto Cellini, an Italian sculptor and jeweler, commissioned by the French King Francis I. 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, it was stolen. As it turned out later, the thief was a museum technician - Robert Manga. The museum offered a reward of 70 thousand euros for help in the search for Salière. But they found her only three years later, buried in a metal box in a forest in Austria. Robert Mang, who committed the theft, claimed that he only wanted to prove the ineffectiveness of the security system at the museum, but the court did not believe him and sent him to jail for four years.

The Bell of the Monks of Tacoma

Stealing a 1,360-kilogram bell from a Buddhist monastery is a real audacity. The theft occurred in Tacoma, Washington. The local police came to the conclusion that if the thieves were not superheroes with unearthly power, then at least a forklift and a truck should have been used during the theft, and at least someone should have heard something. However, the thieves stole the huge bell so quietly that none of the monks heard anything suspicious. The inhabitants of the monastery could not estimate the value of the stolen property, but for them the bell made in Vietnam was priceless. It was found only three years later, when someone tried to sell it for scrap. The future buyer went straight to the police, and thus the thieves were caught.

"The biggest wardrobe in the world"

It was the largest dressing room in the world, at least that's what the media called it, and its owner was 52-year-old Teresa Roemer, a businesswoman and former Miss Texas. The three-storey dressing room had an area of more than 300 square meters. For 30 years, it has collected a large collection of expensive handbags, Louboutin shoes, dresses and accessories worth more than $ 2 million.

In early August of this year, Mrs. Roemer's wardrobe was stolen. When she and her husband were not at home, the robbers sneaked through the bathroom window. As the owner herself later admitted, she forgot to close the window and turn on the alarm. Thieves stole not only designer clothes and accessories, but also a locket with a lock of hair of the deceased son of Teresa Roemer. The investigation is still ongoing, and the perpetrators are still walking free.

Dinosaur Bones

Four years ago, news reports around the world reported that a man named Eric Prokopi — a native of Florida - stole bones of dinosaur skeletons from Mongolia, the value of which was estimated at $ 1 million. He even managed to smuggle the bones to the USA, but got caught when he tried to sell them at auction. Surprisingly, the criminal received a very lenient sentence — only a month in prison. Dinosaur bones were returned to Mongolia.

Davidoff Violin-Morini Stradivari

This case was included in the top 10 art thefts compiled by the FBI. In October 1995, a Stradivarius violin from 1727, the value of which was estimated at $ 3.5 million, was stolen from the apartment of the famous violinist Erica Morini. It is still unclear why someone stole it, since it is impossible to sell it, since there is no black market for such antiques. What makes the theft even more audacious and tragic is that Erica Morini was at home at the time. She died during the attack, she was 91 years old. The case of the missing Davidoff-Morini Stradivari violin has not yet been solved.