World news | The Guardian
· collected 2026-08-31 · by Deborah Cole in Berlin
Two men are alleged to have stolen a 200-carat platinum necklace encrusted with 673 diamonds from the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna on Thursday afternoon during opening hours. The necklace, which once belonged to Egyptian Queen Consort Nazli, was on loan to the museum and was valued at $4.3m after being sold by Sotheby's in New York in 2015. Austrian police released pictures of the suspects and are searching for them with the help of a tracking dog. This is one of several high-profile thefts from European museums in recent months, including a string of smash-and-grab raids across Europe that have become increasingly violent.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-31,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Two men are being hunted by Austrian police after stealing a priceless necklace worth millions in a brazen smash-and-grab raid at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna on Thursday afternoon. The 673-diamond necklace, valued at an estimated fortune, was encrusted with platinum and had once belonged to Egyptian royalty. The thieves bought tickets to the exhibition, then smashed a glass display case using a hammer during opening hours, making off with the jewelry. The suspects' direction of escape is unknown, but police believe they may have been working on behalf of a criminal gang. This is the latest in a string of high-profile heists targeting European cultural institutions, including a €88m theft from the Louvre museum in Paris last October and a recent raid on the Treasure of Villena in Spain. Police released photos of the suspects captured by security cameras and are appealing for information from the public to aid in their investigation.
Written for “Theft of Royal Necklace” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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No political leaning scored for article 3290 · logged 2026-08-31
Austrian police are hunting two men alleged to have stolen a 200-carat platinum necklace encrusted with 673 diamonds that was on loan to a museum in Vienna and once belonged to Egyptian royalty.
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that → hunt → royalty
Authorities in the capital released pictures of the suspects captured by security cameras during the heist at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), amid a rash of spectacular smash-and-grab thefts from European cultural institutions.
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Authorities → release → institutions
The unmasked men bought tickets to the exhibition before shattering a glass display case with a hammer during opening hours on Thursday afternoon and making off with the diamond necklace.
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men → buy → necklace
In an appeal for information from the public, police said: “The perpetrators fled with the jewellery in an unknown direction.”
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perpetrators → say → direction
Officers fanned out through the city centre and deployed a police tracking dog to search for the suspects.
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Officers → fan → suspects
The Kronen newspaper said investigators believed the men were probably carrying out a “contract job” on behalf of a criminal gang.
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men → say → gang
MAK said the piece had been snatched from a jewellery exhibition that had been on display since June, featuring more than 300 works by the French designers Van Cleef & Arpels.
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that → say → designers
No one was hurt, although there were several witnesses in the room at the time.
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one → hurt → time
Documentation for the show said the necklace once belonged to Queen Consort Nazli of Egypt, who wore it at the 1939 wedding of her daughter Fawzia to Iran’s then crown prince, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who later became shah.
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who → say → prince
The necklace was sold by Sotheby’s in New York in 2015 for $4.3m.
The MAK said the exhibition brought together about 200 “unique and rarely seen objects” from its own collection and pieces spanning the 120-year history of the Parisian jewellery house, from the Van Cleef & Arpels patrimonial collection.
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exhibition → sell → collection
A guided tour planned for Friday afternoon was listed as “cancelled” on the museum website and the exhibition, which was due to end on 27 September, was temporarily closed.
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which → guide → September
European museums have been hit by a string of high-profile heists since thieves broke into the Louvre museum in Paris during the day last October and escaped within minutes with crown jewels worth €88m.
In Spain on Thursday, thieves raided the Treasure of Villena, a collection of bronze age gold artefacts described as one of Europe’s most important prehistoric hoards.
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thieves → hit → hoards
This month, four of the most important works by the 15th-century Renaissance master Antonello da Messina were stolen during a national holiday from a museum in the Sicilian port city of Messina.
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four → steal → Messina
Two days earlier, Italian police said they had recovered three paintings by the French masters Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse that were taken this year from a private museum near the northern city of Parma.
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that → say → Parma
A report by Europol this month found that robberies at European museums are becoming increasingly violent, with thieves sometimes brandishing guns, assaulting staff and using sledgehammers, axes and even explosives to smash their way to targeted loot.
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thieves → find → loot
