Thieves steal £3m diamond necklace from museum, launching international manhunt

Police said the pair smashed the display case containing the necklace after buying tickets to an exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) on Thursday afternoon.

A series of high-profile heists targeting European museums have occurred in the recent months, with this heist coming 10 months after the 2025 Louvre heist on October 19.

The necklace, which was designed for the former Egyptian royal family, was being displayed as part of an exhibition dedicated to French jeweller Van Cleef & Arpels.

MAK's wesbite says the exhibition is due to run until September 27.

Vienna police are appealing for members of the public to come forward with any information which could help identify the suspects.

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Officers have also released photographs of the two men, who were not wearing masks and were captured on security cameras during the alleged theft.

Police said one of the suspects was also believed to have been carrying what appeared to be a real firearm.

After taking the necklace, the pair fled "towards the Vienna Stadtpark", just south of the museum, police said.

The necklace was created for Egypt’s royal family and was famously worn by Queen Nazli. She wore the piece at her daughter’s wedding to the future Shah of Iran in 1939.

Around 500 pieces were being displayed alongide the necklace as part of the exhibition celebrating the work of the French jewellery house.

Lilli Hollein, MAK general director, said "the theft of a highly valuable piece of jewellery... has hit us hard".

Commenting on the security measures in place for the exhibition, she added: "Security issues were taken very seriously and all security measures were carefully prepared."

Hollein said MAK had worked with Van Cleef & Arpels to create a specific security plan for the exhibition.

She said staff had remained calm and followed established procedures when the "armed incident" took place, adding that nobody was injured.

She also said MAK had reviewed its security measures ahead of the exhibition, "particularly in light of the incidents at major museums in recent years".

The theft comes just days after items were stolen from the Treasure of Villena in Spain, a collection of Bronze Age gold artefacts described as one of Europe’s most important prehistoric hoards.

Earlier this month, four major works by 15th-century Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina were stolen from a museum in the Sicilian port city of Messina.

Two days earlier, Italian police said they had recovered three paintings by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse which had been stolen from a private museum near the northern city of Parma earlier this year.

A report by Europol this month found that robberies at European museums are becoming increasingly violent.

While museum thefts have traditionally been considered a non-violent form of organised property crime, member states have detected a recent shift “towards violent and forceful methods”.