VIENNA — Two men bought tickets to enter Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) before smashing a display case, grabbing a 200-carat platinum and diamond necklace and walking away, police said Friday.

Austrian media said the Van Cleef and Arpels necklace, with 673 precious stones, was worth several million dollars. It is the latest in a series of high-profile heists to hit European museums.

Police said the two men did not wear masks, paid to enter the museum and were clearly seen on surveillance cameras in Thursday’s heist.

They “smashed a glass display case” with a hammer before “fleeing with the jewelry, in an unknown direction,” said a police statement.

The MAK museum confirmed the theft but said it would not comment while the investigation went ahead.

The necklace had been part of an exhibition devoted to the French designers Van Cleef and Arpels. Some 500 pieces had been on display since June. The exhibition is scheduled to end on September 27.

Despite the MAK announcing the exhibition would remain closed until further notice, the wing where the theft occurred reopened hours later. AFP saw the smashed display case covered with a blue panel........

© The Times of Israel