Olympia Museum Theft Worse Than Originally Reported

ATHENS, Greece — Police in Greece say 77 artifacts were stolen by armed robbers last week at a small museum in Ancient Olympia – the birthplace of the ancient games – revealing that the extent of the theft was worse than originally reported.

Police and the Culture Ministry had initially estimated that some 65 objects up to 3,200 years old were taken in Friday's raid, when two masked gunmen tied up a museum guard and used a sledgehammer to smash display cabinets at the southern Greek museum.

Most of the items on the list released Monday were bronze and pottery figurines, vases and lamps.

The robbery was the second major art heist in two months after works by 20th-century masters Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian were snatched from Athens' National Gallery.

Comments

[mds308]

12:07 PM on 02/21/2012

I was always under the impression that high profile items would be very hard to sell. They would have to be sold to underground collectors or those people pass on these items because the publicity and documentation. Gold items could be melted but pottery and other artifacts end up being destroyed or ditched. What a mess.

[gregbelter]

10:07 AM on 02/21/2012

Probably eBay material now. LMAO

[Sol76]

09:02 AM on 02/22/2012

In that case I hope no-one ever steals anything that is priceless from your culture, if you have any.

[parabq]

10:00 AM on 02/21/2012

Its what happens when politicians and banksters ruin a country !!!
Going to be more of this !

[Sol76]

09:04 AM on 02/22/2012

No, this is what happens when thieves steal. A few years ago someone stole The Scream from a museum in Norway and oddly the nation was not going through an economic crisis at the time.

[timberforest]

09:56 AM on 02/21/2012

Thou shalt not steal.
where were the guards. helping load the truck ?

[SunnyFlo]

10:30 AM on 02/21/2012

They were laid off due to austerity measures.

[madame fate]

09:37 AM on 02/22/2012

The article the 'guard' (only one, I guess) was tied up.

[timberforest]

09:54 AM on 02/21/2012

Horrible, thou shalt not steal! Where were the guards

[gerrycam]

02:59 PM on 02/21/2012

The guard was tied up...but apparently not harmed. Kind of makes you wonder......

[madame fate]

09:37 AM on 02/22/2012

Would the guard be more trustworthy had s/he been shot?

[brokenleoheart]

09:38 AM on 02/21/2012

i dun even care if you steal diamonds, but museum artifacts are for EVERYONE, it's our culture and history, it's there to educate our future generation. the act is just despicable. it's like stealing money from a charity rather than a bank

[Ralph Preta]

10:38 AM on 02/21/2012

broken...youre right those lowlife thieves really should bone up on their ethical standards. how rude and inconsiderate of them. i bet they didnt even respect speed limits as they were getting away either.

[psandysdad]

09:15 AM on 02/21/2012

Lots of looting of art treasures went on in Iraq when the lawful government thereof was overthrown.

[Sherri Gordon Garner]

09:02 AM on 02/21/2012

Sounds like an inside job. so much corruption in Greece, especially in these tough times.

[Sol76]

09:14 AM on 02/22/2012

It's possible but I like to think our heritage makes these sacred items to all Greeks. As far as I am concerned, whoever did it has no right to call himself a Greek ever again, if he ever was one.

[rkeeeballs]

08:49 AM on 02/21/2012

Must be their economy.....crisis ?..what cri$i$...?

[oceanview136]

08:45 AM on 02/21/2012

The second in two months ?? These museums should have much better security, than a single security guard, for precious items 3200 years old !!

[gerrycam]

03:01 PM on 02/21/2012

The country is bankrupt and the guards won't work for nothing.

[Egyptsteve]

08:41 AM on 02/21/2012

It's crucial for Greece to eliminate all of it's debt right now, so it should just sell all of its archaeological resources off completely. That way, the confidence fairies will sprinkle confidence dust all over the Eurozone.

[360Dunk]

10:07 AM on 02/21/2012

Yes, hopefully they'll offer up the Parthenon or Colossus of Rhodes on eBay. Not sure what the 'buy it now' price would be set at, though.

[honkndodge]

08:17 AM on 02/21/2012

Watch for these stolen items on E-Bay

[360Dunk]

10:08 AM on 02/21/2012

Sorry, I didn't see your post before writing a similar one.

[badboyzs]

08:13 AM on 02/21/2012

Corruption......so what else is new.

[likes2kayak]

08:01 AM on 02/21/2012

These items most likely will be hid in a rich mans closet and will not be seen again for years. It isn't the poor that pulled off the heist.

[hman570]

05:58 AM on 02/21/2012

Maybe they want to sell them to help the Greek Government out of the mess they are in?