Police in Sweden have launched a manhunt after thieves swiped some of the country’s crown jewels from a cathedral and escaped by speedboat.<\/p>\n
Two priceless crowns and an orb belonging to a 17th Century king and queen were taken at around midday on Tuesday in Str\u00e4ngn\u00e4s, near Stockholm.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said they saw two men running from the cathedral, which was open to the public and hosting a lunch fair.<\/p>\n
They were seen motoring off into Lake Malaren, and have not been seen since.<\/p>\n
Police have launched a huge search operation, but currently have no suspects.<\/p>\n
“It’s 1-0 to them right now,” police spokesperson Thomas Agnevik told Swedish media. “It is not possible to put an economic value on this, it is invaluable items of national interest.”<\/p>\n
The royal jewels are adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, and come from the 1611 funeral regalia of Sweden’s Charles IX and Kristina the Elder.<\/p>\n
A witness, who is getting married in the Str\u00e4ngn\u00e4s Cathedral next week, told local news channel Aftonbladet he contacted the police.<\/p>\n
“I knew immediately they were burglars because of the way they were behaving,” Tom Rowell said. “It’s despicable that people would steal from a holy building and a historical building.”<\/p>\n
Mr Agnevik said that the crown jewels would have been kept in locked and alarmed glass displays that the thieves would have had to break into.<\/p>\n
No one was hurt during the burglary but church staff were shaken, local media reported.<\/p>\n
February 2003<\/strong>\u00a0– Robbers steal jewels, then worth \u20ac100m (now $117m; \u00a389m), from the Antwerp Diamond Centre in Belgium<\/p>\n February 2005 –\u00a0<\/strong>An armed gang disguised as airport workers hijack a lorry carrying \u20ac75m ($88m; \u00a367m) of diamonds and other jewels at Amsterdam airport<\/p>\n December 2008<\/strong>\u00a0– A group of men steal over \u20ac85m ($99m; \u00a376m) of watches and jewels in two Paris heists – one in 2007 and the other a year later<\/p>\n August 2009<\/strong>\u00a0– Armed men take jewellery worth \u00a340m ($61m; \u20ac45m) in a raid on the Graff Diamonds shop in central London<\/p>\n July 2013<\/strong>\u00a0– An armed man takes jewels worth about \u20ac40m ($47m; \u00a336m) from a hotel jewellery exhibition in the French Riviera resort of Cannes<\/p>\n April 2015<\/strong>\u00a0– A group of men – mostly in their 60s and 70s – drill into a safety deposit vault in London’s Hatton Garden, taking \u00a313.7m ($18m;\u20ac15.4m) in gold, cash and gems<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"