Police Released an Image of the Stolen Item

A valuable diamond necklace has been stolen from a museum in Vienna, Austria. The piece, created by Parisian luxury jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, was part of an exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). Police released an image of the stolen item.

According to the museum's website, the royal necklace features 673 diamonds and weighs more than 200 carats. The MAK confirmed in a brief statement that a theft occurred during the jewelry exhibition, adding that no one was injured. Authorities declined to provide details on the ongoing investigation.

The necklace was on display as part of the "Glanzstücke" exhibition, which has showcased more than 300 objects from the Van Cleef & Arpels collection since early June. A photo on the MAK website shows the piece behind a glass wall, with a label identifying it as having belonged to Queen Nasli of Egypt. She wore it in 1939 at the wedding of her daughter Fausia to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, then crown prince of Iran, who later became shah.

The piece fetched nearly $4.3 million (€3.7 million) at a 2015 auction in New York, according to Sotheby's database. Police said two unidentified men smashed a display case during visiting hours and removed the exhibit. The suspects fled with the loot.

Surveillance images showed two inconspicuous, darkly dressed individuals in the museum. Officers were seen in and around the building that evening as investigators worked on the case. The jewelry, valued at several million, had apparently been an easy target for the thieves.

This article was written from a wire report. — Ed.