An overview of historical thefts and current incidents

On the night of 5 September 2025, the Musée National Adrien-Dubouché in Limoges was the victim of a professional burglary. Three Chinese porcelain pieces were stolen: two plates from the Ming dynasty (14th–15th century) and a vase from the 18th century. All objects are considered ‘national treasures’. The insurance value is estimated at 9.5 million euros. The perpetrators broke a window at around 3:15 a.m.; triggering the alarm system, but it was unable to prevent the theft. Source

Two years earlier, on the night of 12 to 13 September 2023, nine Chinese porcelain objects (16th–19th century) were stolen from the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne, whose origins date back to the museum's founding collection. The damage is estimated at over €1 million. Source

Targeted thefts of Chinese antiques are not isolated incidents. Since 2010, there have been similarly spectacular burglaries at European museums, including Stockholm (2010), Bergen (2011), Cambridge (2012) and the Château de Fontainebleau in France (2015). The perpetrators operate with great precision, usually within a few minutes, and seem to target East Asian collections in particular. Source

The Deutschlandfunk podcast ‘Tatort Kunst’ (Crime Scene Art) dedicates a three-part episode to this phenomenon: ‘Museum Break-ins – Chinese Booty’.

• Part 1 examines the intruders, their methods and the police response.
• Part 2 focuses on East Asian collections in Germany, their historical contexts and the question of whether artefacts should be returned.
• Part 3 analyses the measures taken by museums, the ongoing threat and the potential to use the series of thefts as an opportunity to address past injustices.

The podcast is hosted by Rahel Klein and Stefan Koldehoff. Source

The recent thefts show that technological innovation, preventive strategies and close cooperation between museums, security experts and politicians are crucial to protecting cultural heritage in the long term. This is the only way to secure valuable objects and maintain public trust in institutions.

We have therefore dedicated a separate page to the topic of art object security in museums: Security technology in museums and galleries