Thieves have broken into Paris' Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth $700,000 in the latest of a worrying se...

Thieves have broken into Paris' Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth $700,000 in the latest of a worrying series of robberies from cultural institutions, according to the museum. Famed for its dinosaur skeletons and stuffed animals, the National Natural History Museum in the chic 5th district of the French capital also houses a geology and mineralogy gallery. A break-in was detected on Tuesday morning, with the intruders reportedly using an angle grinder and a blow torch to force their way into the river-side complex that is popular with Parisians and tourists. An unnamed police source told the Parisien newspaper that the museum's alarm and surveillance systems had been disabled by a cyberattack in July, with the thieves seemingly aware of the vulnerability. "This incident comes at a critical time for cultural institutions and museums in particular. Several public collections have indeed been targeted by thefts in recent months," the museum added. https://lnkd.in/gWtywUWf