Swedish Crown Jewels Stolen By Motorboat Pirates

Joshua Gill

Thieves stole the Swedish crown jewels from Strängnäs Cathedral in Sweden Tuesday and made off in a motorboat, prompting a massive manhunt.

Two unidentified men took a royal orb and two crowns from their display cases in the cathedral around noon, then escaped on a motorboat that they had moored below the church. Police gave chase with boats, helicopters and officers on land.

“We are on land, in the water and in the air,” a police spokesman told The Sydney Morning Herald.

The thieves evaded capture, however, leaving the boat to travel in a getaway car. Police believe they are either headed East to Stockholm, or west into the hinterlands.

“We are spreading out in all directions,” the spokesman added.

The police had not apprehended them as of 9:30 p.m. local time.

The church was open and staffed with security at the time of the theft, but those present reported that the thieves injured no one “physically or mentally.”

The crowns are priceless, as they are funeral crowns which belonged to Karl IV and his wife Queen Kristina, who died in 1611.

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