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April 19th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Posted
Four rhinoceros heads worth more than $630,000 have been stolen from the National Museum of Ireland by a gang who overpowered a security guard.
Three masked men tied up the guard before loading the rhino heads, each with two horns, into a getaway van late on Wednesday night (local time).
The guard, who was unhurt, eventually freed himself and raised the alarm.
The Dublin museum said in a statement the heads were probably taken to supply the illegal trade in powdered horn, which is used in traditional medicines.
Their value is based on weight and the stolen goods could be worth up to 500,000 euros ($634,000).
Police said they had begun an investigation into the theft, adding the crime scene has been sealed off for forensic testing.
Late last month police in France foiled the theft of elephant tusks from the Natural History Museum in Paris.
A man broke into the gallery of comparative anatomy and used a chainsaw to remove one of the tusks from an elephant skeleton.
The man’s presence triggered the museum’s alarms and he was quickly apprehended by police.
ABC/AFP
Topics:
library-museum-and-gallery,
law-crime-and-justice,
ireland
Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-19/rhino-heads-stolen-from-dublin-museum/4638474
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