Dresden, Germany (dpa) - Axe-wielding thieves broke into a historic Germany museum on Monday and made off with parts of three jewellery sets studded with eighteenth-century diamonds.
The theft at the Green Vault in Dresden was completed in just a few minutes, before the suspects fled in an Audi A6, the police said on Monday evening.
The value of the stolen goods is inestimable, Marion Ackermann, director general of the Dresden State Art Collections, told journalists during a joint press conference with police in the east German city.
Up to 100 objects may have been stolen from the sets, which consist of clasps, buttons, medals, epaulettes, sashes and ornaments for hats and canes, studded with diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires.
"Luckily, not everything was taken, much is still here," Ackermann said in a radio interview.
The Green Vault museum houses one of Europe's oldest and best-preserved collection of treasures. The rooms of the museum normally feature strict controls and now, questions are being raised about whether those security measures are adequate.
At the press conference, Ackermann said the sets' special significance lay in their integrity rather than their material value, adding that it would be impossible to sell the stolen goods on the open market due to their fame.
Public museums in Germany do not generally insure their holdings, which instead are covered by state liability.
Volker Langem, the head of the criminal investigation department, said two suspects were caught on camera in the jewel chamber.
The suspects entered the building through a window after cutting through a grid and breaking the glass.
The thieves used an axe to smash the glass case containing the sets.
The police said they could not exclude the possibility that other suspects were involved.
The museum's security staff are not armed, and, Ackermann said, usually in such cases, the police are called and the staff protected to prevent loss of life.
The police were notified at 4:59 am (03.59 GMT) of the break-in, and first sent out one patrol car, then all 16 that the city had available.
Later on Monday, a special, 20-strong commission called "Epaulette," named after the stolen goods, was established to track down the art thieves.
According to newspaper reports, the power supply to Dresden's museum complex may have been interrupted because of a fire in an electrical box.
A spokeswoman for the Drewag energy provider confirmed that the box had to be disabled. It was not immediately clear if there was a link to the break-in but Lange said the streetlights in the area were off, and the area was "completely dark."
Shortly later, a vehicle similar to the getaway car caught fire in an underground carpark in Dresden and the police said they were investigating whether this was indeed the car used by the fleeing suspects.
On Monday, forensics experts were at the scene, with parts of the museum cordoned off by police. The Dresden Royal Palace housing the Green Vault was closed to visitors. The sign written in English stated this was for "organizational reasons."
Staff stood by, some in tears. One said, "It's like a bad movie. I never thought I would have to see something like this."
The premier of the state of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, said that it was Saxons as a whole that had been stolen from.
"The assets that can be found in the Green Vault and the Royal Palace have been hard-won by the people of the Free State of Saxony over many centuries," Kretschmer said.
The treasury was created between 1723 and 1730 at the behest of Augustus the Strong, the elector of Saxony. Competing with Louis XIV, he had sought to outshine the Sun King with his impressive array of jewels.
Nowadays, the treasury is exhibited in two sections: the Historic Green Vault is located in authentically restored rooms on the ground floor of the Dresden Royal Palace, while special individual items are exhibited in the New Green Vault one floor above.
One of the Green Vault's most valuable pieces, a 41-carat green diamond, is currently being exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as part of its show "Making Marvels: Science and Splendor at the Courts of Europe."
Other objects in the vault's sumptuously decorated, ornately-gilded rooms are jewel-encrusted figurines, Martin Luther's ring, rhinoceros-horn goblets and gold-mounted ostrich eggs.
The museum may reopen on Wednesday.