Sweden's government and police force has declared a 'national alarm' following the theft of priceless crown jewels, including two crowns and a royal orb. The national alarm in used to alert police forces about a serious situation that needs extra measures, revealing the severity of the daylight robbery at Strängnäs Cathedral which took place on Tuesday. The thieves, who have not yet been caught, escaped the crime scene on a speed boat. At the time, police spokesperson Thomas Agnevik told the media: "It's 1-0 to them right now. I have talked to someone at the county administrative board that says it is not possible to put an economic value on them - these are invaluable objects of national interest. We are looking for a small and open motorboat. We have some different information about how exactly the boat looked. We are now examining all the tips we receive."
Police are searching for the missing items
Maria Ellionor of Swedish police's national unit for cultural crime told Royal Central: "It's just speculation, but this seems more like a planned crime. Of course, there is media interest in such objects. Images appear in the media. It's simply impossible to sell them, so you can only wonder how familiar the thieves were to these crowns and what they intend to do with them."
READ: Swedish crown jewels stolen by thieves who escaped on speed boat
The gold-plated and jewel-encrusted crowns belonged to Queen Kristina and King Karl IX respectively, and the cathedral has now been closed to closely examine the crime scene. Thomas added: "The police's work has continued during the night but it has not resulted in any significant successes in the form of suspected persons or detention. The police are still keen to get further tips from the public." This isn't the first time a robbery attempt has been made on the Swedish crown jewels, as thieves managed to steal part of the crown jewels back in 2013, only for them to be recovered in a bin bag in a ditch following an anonymous tip off.
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