Thieves snatched three porcelain works worth millions of euros in a night raid on a French museum.
The robbers triggered the alarm at the Adrien Dubouché institute in Limoges early on Thursday. They smashed a window to gain entry, said a source, who asked not to be named.
The museum said the gang made off with “two particularly important dishes of Chinese porcelain … dating from the 14th and 15th centuries” and an 18th-century Chinese vase, all designated as “national treasures”.
Police were told the haul was worth about €9.5m (£8.2m). Prosecutors have opened an investigation into “aggravated theft of cultural property exhibited in a French museum, committed in a group and with damage to property”.
Security guards called police quickly after arriving on the scene but the suspects had already fled, according to Emilie Abrantes, public prosecutor for Limoges.
The city’s mayor, Émile Roger Lombertie, added: “The security system worked, but it may need to be reviewed. All the world’s major museums have had items stolen at one time or another. It is likely that collectors are giving orders to steal these items and are turning to high-level criminals.”
The museum’s website says it holds about 18,000 works, including the largest public collection of Limoges porcelain.
Last November, four people smashed open a display case using axes and bats at the Cognacq-Jay museum in Paris before making away with snuffboxes and other precious artefacts.
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The next day, jewellery worth several million euros was taken in an armed robbery at the Hiéron museum in eastern France.
