Thieves grab jewels, treasures worth 'up to a billion euros' in Dresden
Thieves in Germany grabbed jewels worth up to a billion euros from an eastern German museum on Monday (November 25).
The intruders cut the electricity supply in Dresden's Green Vault museum.
The building houses one of Europe's largest collections of jewelry and court riches, national newspaper Bild said.
The country's interior minister explained the significance of the heist.
(SOUNDBITE) (German) SAXONY INTERIOR MINISTER, ROLAND WOELLER, SAYING:
"It's not just about the material value, but also the immaterial value which is inestimable for the state of Saxony. As our state premier has said, overnight the whole of Saxony was stolen from. This is an attack on the cultural identity of all Saxons and the state of Saxony."
Police sealed off the area and an investigation into who was behind the robbery is underway.
The collection was founded in the 18th century by August the Strong, Elector of Saxony and later King of Poland.
One of its best-known treasures - the 41-carat Dresden "Green Diamond" - was on loan to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art at the time of the break-in.
The treasures of the Green Vault survived Allied bombing raids in World War Two, only to be carted off as war booty by the Soviet Union.
They were returned in 1958.
