Art Thefts around the World
- The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci was stolen from the Louvre Museum, France in 1911. Vincenzo Peruggia, who used to work at the Louvre, hid in a closet and walked in the room where the Mona Lisa was kept, when it was empty. He took the painting off the wall and out of its frame. Then he hid the painting under his painter’s smock and walked out. He was caught after two years.
- A man rented a store near a museum, in Paraguay. He dug an underground tunnel, probably with accomplices. He entered the museum in July 2002 and stole famous art pieces.
- In December 2000 in Sweden, thieves set off bombs at opposite ends of the city. This diverted the police while they stole valuable works of art. They escaped by motorboat.
- In 1990, people disguised as cops with fake moustaches knocked at a Boston museum door, at 1:30 am. The guards let them in and the thieves stole $300 million worth of art.
- How did thieves steal Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure, which weighed over 1814 kilograms? They used a crane-equipped truck. It took them just ten minutes to steal the gigantic sculpture.
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