Thieves Steal Priceless Diamonds In Heist At Dresden's 'Green Vault' Museum
Saxony's art minister, Eva-Maria Stange, noted that the stolen jewelry pieces are essentially the crown jewels of Saxon kings. "They belong to Saxony," she said.
Updated at 3:55 p.m. ET
Police are searching for the bold thieves who made off with priceless diamonds and other historic treasures from the Grünes Gewölbe or "Green Vault" state museum in Dresden, Germany, early Monday.
The museum has a large collection of jewels, Baroque artifacts and intricately crafted golden tableaus amassed between 1723 and 1730 by August the Strong, the Saxon elector and arts patron who later became king of Poland.
Early reports of the heist sparked incredulity and worries about how much was taken, since the historic Green Vault collection includes thousands of rare and irreplaceable
