Heinous thieves found guilty of executing audacious £98m jewel heist from vault

Dresden: Green Vault robbed by black-clothed figures

Five men were found guilty of a sewer heist in Dresden, Germany. Police said they were able to recover many of the jewels taken by the city’s state museum, including a diamond encrusted sword.

The rest of the treasure, however, may never be found.

The guilty men face four to six years in prison.

The gang visited the museum several times from Berlin to study their plan before performing the heist.

After plunging the streets surrounding the museum into darkness, two men entered the building wearing masks and wielding axes.

CCTV footage showed the men smashing the glass display cases to get to the treasures.

With a foam fire extinguisher sprayed across the room, the men covered their tracks before leaving in an Audi waiting for them in a car park.

The car was then set on fire before the gang flew back to Berlin, where they lived.

Marion Ackermann, general director of Dresden’s State Art Collections said: “There are people who steal artworks out of passion for art, but this was really the opposite.

“They had no idea of what they had taken.”

Several pieces are still missing, including a very rare diamond called the White Stone of Saxony.

The stolen pieces were part of Augustus the Strong’s, Elector of Saxony, 18th Century collection.

Professor Ackermann said the security system of the museum was one of the best in Germany.

Yet, one of the men admitted in the trial he was himself surprised by how easily they could see through window bars undetected, despite the extreme noise caused by their cutting equipment.

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