Daring Heist | Thieves steal Swedish royal jewels, escape by speedboat

A discarded bicycle near the scene of a robbery at the Strangnas Cathedral, in Strangnas, Sweden

Thieves in Sweden walked into a small town’s medieval cathedral in broad daylight and made off with priceless crown jewels dating back to the early 1600s before escaping by speedboat, police said yesterday.

Two men vanished after the heist into a vast patchwork of lakes around Strangnas, 60 kilometers west of the capital Stockholm on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

The thieves snatched two gold crowns and an orb made for King Karl IX and Queen Kristina in the daring robbery. One of the crowns is encrusted with precious stones. The stolen items were on display at an exhibition in the cathedral, and visitors were inside at the time.

“The alarm went off when the burglars smashed the security glass and stole the artifacts,” Catharina Frojd, a spokeswoman for the 14th-century Strangnas cathedral, told The Associated Press.

The church wrote on its website that the stolen items were kept “in accordance with the prevailing safety regulations in locked and alarmed displays in the cathedral.” It gave no further details.

Police sent out a helicopter and boat to hunt for the thieves but found nothing. Authorities said nobody was hurt in the robbery, but didn’t provide further details.

Tom Rowell, a visitor who was eating lunch outside, said he saw two men running from the cathedral toward a small nearby jetty where a motorboat was moored.

“The two men hurriedly jumped on board and it sped off,” Rowell said, adding that they “appeared non-Nordic.” He didn’t explain further.

The men appeared to have escaped using two black women’s bicycles — which they likely stole ahead of the heist — to race to a waiting boat, said police spokesman Stefan Dangardt.

While the items are of great historic and cultural value, police expressed doubt whether the burglary would bring the perpetrators financial gain.

The stolen items are “impossible to sell” because of their uniqueness and high visibility, Maria Ellior of the Swedish police’s National Operations Department told Swedish news agency TT.

The theft would be logged at Interpol, enabling an international search, TT said.

Strangnas is a small, quiet town with a population of about 13,000. It is popular with Stockholm commuters and with tourists, who come to see the cathedral and a street that has been called the prettiest in Sweden.

The Gothic-style cathedral, built between 1291 and 1340, is in the heart of the town. The cathedral’s red-brick tower with a black top can be seen from kilometers around.

The cathedral was closed yesterday, and a grassy area by the jetty was cordoned off as police inspected the ground for clues. Police also questioned witnesses who were inside the church at the time of the theft and people outside who saw the suspects get away.

Rowell, the eyewitness, is getting married at the cathedral next weekend. “It’s despicable that people would steal from a holy building,” he said. Jan M. Olsen & Barry Hatton, Copenhagen, AP