A raid on the local church saw burglars steal two crowns and an orb dating back to the early 1600s and escape by speedboat.
The Strängnäs Cathedral, which is open to the public, displayed the precious jewels locked glass boxes. It didn't appear to be an obstacle for two thieves who still remain at large.
An eyewitness Tom Rowsell described the speedboat the assailants used to escape as "white" and told the police "he knew immediately they were burglars because of the way they were behaving."
Thieves take royal jewels in Sweden in a daring daytime raid https://t.co/gpvAM5h2h1 pic.twitter.com/BT57eCKvHB
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"I think it's awful, it's despicable that people would steal from a holy building and take something of historic and monetary value. I hope the police succeed in finding them," Mr. Rowsell said.
The search for the criminals has been unsuccessful so far and the police spokesman Thomas Agnevik said in an interview:
"It's 1-0 to them right now. We want to spread information and pictures of these items so that they can be identified as stolen objects."
The stolen crowns and orb come from the funeral regalia of Charles IX of Sweden and Christina, Queen of Sweden.
