In our time, thieves and thugs taking your wallets or robbing liquor stores are a dime a dozen, but they’ve got nothing on the masterminds from this list. Ever tried to steal a giant bell? How about a whole beach?
Here are the 8 cases of theft where the size did matter.
1. A Giant Bell
It would seem that only one could steal a 1360 kg copper bell only using a car lift or something, but you’d be wrong. The giant bell was located in a Buddhist temple in Tacoma, Washington, but in 2005, it was stolen from the platform on which it stood, along with its wooden frame. Surprisingly, no one heard or noticed anything suspicious that night. But shortly after the incident, the police were able to catch the robbers who were at the time trying to sell the priceless relic for scrap.
2. The Stolen T-Rex
Even prehistoric dinosaur fossils are not safe in this world. One time in the Gobi desert, paleontologists discovered an almost complete T-Rex skeleton. That same day thieves somehow dug up all the bones and smuggled them to a different country. Years later, the bones finally hit the US auction houses. Fun fact: Nick Cage bought the skull of the T-Rex, but when he found out it was previously stolen, he demanded a refund. Eventually, all stolen fossils have been returned to the Mongolian government.
3. Art Thieves Still at Large
In 1990 two dudes dressed as police officers robbed the Boston Museum art gallery. They broke in, cut out the paintings, rolled them up, and poof – they disappeared. They got some Rembrandt’s, a couple of Vermeer’s, and five Degas’ paintings with an estimated value of $400,000,000. All items are yet to be found.
4. Stolen Diamonds
In 2005 the world heard of the biggest diamond heist in history. Two men dressed as Dutch Royal Airlines pilots were able to fool everyone around them and stole a truckload of unrefined diamonds roughly worth 180 million dollars. Since the diamonds were actually inside a truck, the robbers just drove off with their loot.
5. I Ship It!
Have you ever thought of stealing an entire ship? One British lady actually did manage to snag a ferry boat from Devon. Not only that, but when the authorities told her to surrender, she’d instead ram their boats and yelled: “I’m Jack Sparrow!”
6. Amber Room
In 1941, during the Leningrad blockade, the Nazis stole the legendary Amber Room. It was an enormous room gifted in 1716 to Piotr I by the Prussian king. It was made almost entirely out of amber with gold, silver, and gems sprinkled all over. Nowadays you can visit the restored version of the Amber Room, but the original is gone forever.
7. Bridging the Gap
Russia is probably the only country where headlines like “Bridge Stolen!” will be dismissed as “just a regular Monday.” One cold morning a few local builders rubbed their eyes in disbelief, looking at the blank space where the bridge used to be. It was their only way of getting to the construction site. Funny enough, more bridges disappeared around the same time in Russia. The scrapyards probably had their hands full that week!
8. The Stolen Beach
In 2008, a massive chunk of a Jamaican beach had disappeared in a single night. Stealing a 400-meter-long stretch of sand would require over 500 trucks and a whole lot of human resources. To this day, the authorities have no idea where the beach sand went, who stole it, and, most importantly – why?
