Thieves steal rare books worth £2 million in daring London heist
- 7 years ago
LONDON — A gang of well-organized thieves stole rare books worth nearly £2 million in London last month, just days before the antiques were due to be flown to the US for an event.
Three thieves climbed onto the roof of a storage facility near Heathrow airport between Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, and drilled holes into the reinforced glass-fiber skylights, the Guardian reported.
The trio rappelled 40 feet down while avoiding the warehouse’s motion sensor alarms.
The gang then sifted through four containers of antique books, checking the titles against stock lists and taking only those they wanted.
Early works by Galileo, Da Vinci, and Isaac Newton were among those taken, but the jewel in the haul was a 1566 second edition copy of “De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium” or “On the Revolutions” by Nicolaus Copernicus, worth £215,000.
A total of 160 books were taken from the facility, and put in bags. The bags were pulled up to the roof with a rope before then being lowered to a waiting van, according to Sky News.
Authorities speculate that the books were stolen to order, since it would be impossible to sell them for a hefty price on the regular market.
Three thieves climbed onto the roof of a storage facility near Heathrow airport between Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, and drilled holes into the reinforced glass-fiber skylights, the Guardian reported.
The trio rappelled 40 feet down while avoiding the warehouse’s motion sensor alarms.
The gang then sifted through four containers of antique books, checking the titles against stock lists and taking only those they wanted.
Early works by Galileo, Da Vinci, and Isaac Newton were among those taken, but the jewel in the haul was a 1566 second edition copy of “De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium” or “On the Revolutions” by Nicolaus Copernicus, worth £215,000.
A total of 160 books were taken from the facility, and put in bags. The bags were pulled up to the roof with a rope before then being lowered to a waiting van, according to Sky News.
Authorities speculate that the books were stolen to order, since it would be impossible to sell them for a hefty price on the regular market.