Everything from expensive sculptures and prized paintings to precious jewels and even a solid gold toilet have been snatched so far this year. We take a look at the incredibly valuable items that criminals have made off with in 2019.
In October a couple pilfered an English bulldog puppy with a price-tag of more than $7,600 (£5.9k) from a pet store in Aurora, Illinois. Thankfully, the dognappers' consciences clearly kicked in and the adorable pooch was handed over two days later to a member of the public who duly returned it to the store.
This glitzy gold-plated sculpture shaped like a shopping basket filled with silvered cans and bottles was swiped from a midtown art gallery in New York in April. An audacious thief was caught on video surveillance wandering out of Galeries Bartoux on Central Park South in broad daylight, casually holding the artwork in his arms. Thanks to the footage, the perpetrator was apprehended and the artwork by French artist Fred Allard was recovered.
In September a bronze sculpture of a sheep called Desert Big Horn by artist Pokey Park went missing from a street in Mankato, Minnesota. The artwork was on display as the part of the city's Sculpture Tour. Yet the day after officials realised the sheep had vanished, it was mysteriously “returned to the fold” as local newspaper Nelson Star put it.
This poor bear hasn't been quite so lucky. The bronze sculpture by Joshua Tobey, which is entitled Bottom Heavy, was taken from outside a gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico on 30 March by two hoodie-wearing men using boltcutters, and remains missing, presumably melted down for scrap.
In October an etching by famed Surrealist artist Salvador Dali was taken from a San Francisco gallery. What's even more shocking is that the thief casually removed the etching from its easel near the display window and then walked straight out, unchallenged. The etching would usually be secured, but wasn't at that moment. The suspect was captured on CCTV but to date, neither he nor the artwork has been tracked down.
The Sante Fe piece isn't the only bronze bear that has been swiped this year. This much-loved piece of public art called Bee My Honey went walkies from a park in Northglenn, Colorado back in May, and hasn't been seen since despite the efforts of the local PD.
A Māori mere pounamu (a type of cleaver made of greenstone) called Pokaiwhenua was stolen from its display case in New Zealand's Auckland War Memorial Museum this March. The thief, a 26-year-old man, was apprehended but the artefact remains lost. And it's not the only Māori weapon to have been stolen this year: in February Māori weapons were stolen from a Māori leader's collection in Waikato while he was on holiday.
In May a treasure trove of 15 comic books including inaugural issues of titles such as Iron Man were lifted from Denver's Mile High Comics store. The sought-after titles, which together are worth some $49,000 (£38.1k), are yet to be found.
Bosses at a Leprino Foods factory in Lemoore, California were more than a little cheesed-off when they discovered thousands of pounds of mozzarella were unaccounted for, triggering a criminal investigation that culminated in the arrest of two suspects in October. The theft is thought to be an inside job as those who have been charged were employees at the plant. Detectives believe that the two men looked to make money from the theft, selling the cheese on social media, at markets, and on the street.
Locals were left reeling in October following the theft of Bella, an 'iconic' bronze statue crafted by artist Greg James, from Fremantle's Fishing Boat Harbour. They worry that the 150kg artwork, which is a hit with tourists, may be broken up and sold for scrap. Three men have been charged with the theft.
A gang of nine males burst into the Apple Store in Palo Alto, California on 18 September and made off with a haul of 22 iPads, 10 MacBooks, 71 iPhones and 23 Apple Pencils worth as much as $105,000 (£81.5k). The grab-and-run raid is one of several on Apple Stores in the Bay Area over the past couple of years.
Thieves got away with a huge haul of Chivas Regal scotch worth $129,000 (£100k) in October when they raided a secure site in Paisley, Scotland. Police believe the criminals targeted the facility with a view to selling on the booze illegally.
This year's most sensational booze heist took place at upmarket Parisian restaurant Maison Rostang in July. Like the thieves who raided George Attenborough & Son, the burglars broke through an adjacent wall to gain access to the restaurant's wine cellar. They got away with vintage wine worth up to $665,000 (£516.6k) from a collection that had taken 40 years to build up.
All robberies are wrong, but some are particularly cruel. Cue the theft of Banksy's tribute to the victims of Paris' Bataclan terrorist attack. The stencilled artwork depicting a sorrowful girl was cut from a security door at the theatre by unscrupulous thieves in January.
Banksy's Bataclan tribute wasn't the only work by the Bristol-based street artist to have been stolen this year in Paris. This mural showing a rat holding a utility knife, which was on the back of a road sign outside the city's Pompidou Centre, went AWOL in September.
Staying in Paris, a Tourbillon Diamond Twister timepiece by Richard Mille was ripped from the wrist of a Japanese executive outside the city's luxury Hôtel Napoléon in October. Due to the watch's high retail price the case has been passed onto the organised crime force.
One of this year's most brazen art thefts, this January a man walked into Moscow's New Tretyakov Gallery in Russia when it was teeming with visitors, lifted a landscape painting by esteemed artist Arkhip Kuindzhi off the wall, and walked straight out. A witness later said that they had thought that the thief worked at the museum. It took 12 hours, but police managed to find the 31-year-old suspect who was later jailed for three years.
In October a loose 50-carat diamond was stolen from an unlocked display case at the International Jewellery Fair at Pacifico Yokohama, Japan. The gemstone, which belongs to a Japanese firm, has been valued at ¥200 million ($1.8m/£1.4m).
A gang invaded Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte, 30 miles south east of Paris in September. The robbers tied up the couple who live there, and left with emeralds and other treasures worth $2.2 million (£1.7m). Fortunately, the couple was not injured during the robbery, which took place just before dawn. The Chateau welcomes 250,000 visitors every year and, despite the theft, remains open to the public.
A mint in Mexico City was targeted in August by thieves who wrestled a gun from one of its security guards and took advantage of an unlocked safe to steal 1,567 gold Centenario coins valued at $2.5 million (£1.9m). The coins were then put in a backpack by the two robbers, one of whom had a firearm.
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Makeup guru and YouTube celebrity Jeffree Star who currently boasts 16.5 million suscribers on his channel had the shock of his life in March when burglars broke into his cosmetics warehouse and looted over $2.5 million (£1.9m) of his make up line. Burglars accessed the warehouse by cutting a hole in the roof of the building, and went on to take thousands of lip liners and Star's Magic Star concealer, a product that Star had not yet launched.
A gang of art thieves thought they'd nailed the heist of their career when they stole a masterpiece by Pieter Brueghel the Younger from an Italian church in March. Unbeknownst to the burglars however, local police, who had intel the painting was being targeted, had swapped it for a copy, foiling the plan.
One of the year's most headline-grabbing thefts, a solid gold toilet created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was purloined by thieves from Blenheim Palace, a stately home in Oxfordshire, England in September. At first some suspected the theft was an elaborate prank concocted by the artist who is famous for his crazy stunts. A reward of $129,000 (100k) has been put up for the loo's safe return.
Burglars broke into a prestigious home in Houston, Texas in September and took off with a jade bangle similar to the piece pictured, which is valued at $6 million (£4.7m). The perpertrators also lifted other pricey jewels and designer handbags, as well as $400,000 (£310.8k) in cash. A visiting relative who was alone in the house at the time was tied up by the thieves while they ransacked the home.
Houston's other high-profile burglary of 2019 took place in May when a pair of thieves, who have since been arrested, burgled the home of politician Tony Buzbee. The duo swiped valuables worth a jaw-dropping $21 million (£16.3m), including this $1.3 million (£1m) painting by Modernist artist Fernand Leger, and other works by Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet.
Arriving in trucks that closely resemble police vehicles, eight armed men stormed a terminal at Brazil's Sao Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport in July and seized 1,653lb of precious metals including numerous gold bars worth over $30 million (£23.3m).
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A painting that could very well be a lost work by Michelangelo was stolen from a Belgian church in January. The wood panel picture, which depicts the Madonna and child, was likely to be valued at $144.8 million (£112.5m) if found to be authentic – that's if it shows up of course.
At 5am on 25 November four armed robbers managed to get away with stealing 11 items from the Green Vault Museum at Dresden's royal palace in Germany. Part of the collection of the former Saxon ruler Augustus the Strong, one notable piece in the stolen haul is the Dresden white diamond, a 49-carat jewel worth as much as $11.6 million (£9m). CCTV shows the thieves using an axe to break the display case during the raid, while a fire is thought to have disabled the power supply and therefore the security measures in place to protect the valuable collection. Pictured is one of the entrances to the museum that was cordoned off by police.
Not all thefts that hit the headlines in 2019 were of expensive items like artworks and jewels. This year when singer Camila Cabello was visiting Kensington Palace to meet the finalists of Radio 1's Teen Hero Awards, Radio 1 DJ Greg James dared her to steal a pencil from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's royal residence as a memento, which Cabello later admitted to live on air. And while the pencil doesn't have much face value, antiques expert Lee Young from Antiques Roadshow told the BBC that the fact it came from the palace meant it could sell for thousands in a few years time. What do the royals think? After the on-air confession the Kensington Palace Twitter account replied to Cabello and James with the eye emoji.
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