Reposted from The Sydney Morning Herald

Thieves have made off with priceless Swedish crown jewels, in a daring heist reminiscent of a Hollywood movie.

According to Swedish radio the offenders took two crowns and a royal orb known as a ‘riksapple’ from the ancient cathedral in Strangnas, west of Stockholm, around lunchtime on Tuesday.

They were the funeral crowns of Karl IX and his wife Queen Kristina, who died in the early 17th century.

Two men were seen to jump into a motor boat moored just below the church.

Police quickly mobilised and pursued the thieves by sea, on land, in helicopters and planes.

“We are on land, in the water and in the air,” a police spokesman said.

But the pair somehow evaded pursuit and vanished.

The spokesman said they could have left the motorboat and jumped in a getaway car heading west into the hinterlands, or east to Stockholm.

“We are spreading out in all directions.”

Police chief spokesman Thomas Agnevik told Swedish TV the lost objects were “invaluable objects of national interest”.

By 9:30pm there had still been no arrest.

The royal regalia were originally buried with the couple but were later exhumed and put on display.

At the time of the theft the church was open and staff were on duty. A spokesman said no-one had been injured “physically or mentally”, but they had decided to keep the church closed for the rest of the day.

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