Vienna law enforcement personnel officers officers released CCTV images of the suspects An international manhunt is under way for two men who stole a necklace decorated with more than 600 diamonds from a museum in Vienna after buying a ticket for the exhibition in which it was being displayed. Law enforcement personnel officers officers shared the two suspects smashed a glass display case at the Vienna Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) on Thursday afternoon and grabbed the platinum and diamond necklace, which is believed to be worth more than $4m (£3m; €3.5m).

The theft is the latest in a series of spectacular heists of artefacts at European museums. Vienna law enforcement personnel officers officers released photos of the two suspects, who were unmasked, captured on security cameras. They are appealing for the public to come forward with information.

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Enforcement Personnel Officers Officers Updates

The law enforcement personnel officers officers shared in a statement that one of the perpetrators was also believed to have been carrying what was thought to be a real firearm. After seizing the necklace, they fled "towards the Vienna Stadtpark" just south of the museum, they shared.

The more than 200-carat necklace was worn Lilli Hollein, MAK general director, shared "the theft of a highly valuable piece of jewellery...

has hit us hard". She shared in a statement that MAK had developed a security plan with Van Cleef & Arpels specifically for the exhibition, adding: "Security issues were taken very seriously and all security measures were carefully prepared." Hollein shared staff had reacted calmly and followed the established procedures when the "armed incident" happened, and that no one had been injured.

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She added that MAK had thoroughly reviewed its security measures ahead of the exhibition, "particularly in light of the incidents at major museums in recent years". Also on Thursday was one of the most important troves of prehistoric jewellery and artefacts was stolen from a Spanish museum.

Four Renaissance paintings were stolen from a museum in Sicily earlier this month, while three paintings These heists came after the brazen daylight raid on the Louvre in Paris, in which a masked gang stole priceless jewels last October.

Exhibition Minus Stolen Necklace Updates

The exhibition, minus the stolen necklace, reopened later on Friday The string of thefts have raised questions about the security of European cultural institutions. Europol shared museum thefts were "becoming increasingly aggressive, with a shift towards violent and forceful methods", adding this "may indicate the involvement of new criminal networks".

Van Cleef & Arpels describes it as a "triumph of white jewellery".

The diamonds on the necklace weigh in excess of 200 carats. When it was auctioned a decade ago, it had an estimated worth of $3.6m-$4.6m. Law enforcement personnel officers officers dog units have been deployed in Vienna and the province of Lower Austria, while forensic experts are analysing evidence and CCTV footage.

The exhibition has now been reopened. Thieves steal Bronze Age artefacts from Spanish museum in four-minute heist Four 'extraordinary' Renaissance paintings stolen from Italian museum Thieves steal Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse paintings in three-minute Italian heist 'Priceless' jewels stolen in raid on Louvre Museum in Paris