Forbidden City Fallout: Robbers Make Off With Rare Artifacts

The Global Times reports on trouble at the Forbidden City over the weekend when thieves apparently made off with nine highly valuable early 20th century artifacts worth an estimated RMB 10 million that was on loan to the museum from a private Hong Kong collector.

According to the report, the items, which include rare jewelry boxes and antique furniture, were on display in The Palace of Abstinence (Zhai Gong), and netizens have been speculating as to how is it the thieves could have so easily broken through the Palace Museum's security systems. "At least 1,600 anti-theft alarms, 3,700 smoke detectors and 3,700 cameras that monitor the Forbidden City after it closes to the public at 5 pm," The Global Times quotes The Legal Mirror as stating.

Robberies at The Forbidden City are incredibly rare (the last one was reported in 1987, according to the article), and a post on M.I.C. Gadget ruminates as to whether or not this was an inside job and even claims a suspicious man was apprehended by security that same evening (but was then "easily sneaked away under the eyes of security.")

Beijing police are handling the case and are allegedly seeking a person of interest, a 27-year-old man, but no announcement of any arrests have been made.