Over 1,000 items are stolen from Oakland museum site

A thief or crew of thieves recently carried out one of the largest art heists in California history, breaking into a storage facility for the Oakland Museum of California under the cover of darkness and making off with more than 1,000 precious artifacts.

- By Ciara HARTER

DAVID M. BARREDA Los Angeles Times AMONG the items stolen from the storage facility were daguerreotype photographs and intricately carved ivory tusks, top. Above, the Oakland museum.

Oakland police said the burglary took place just before 3:30 a.m. Oct. 15, which is four days before robbers stole a trove of priceless Napoleonic jewels from the the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Items stolen from the Oakland museum included Native American baskets, jewelry, laptops, daguerreotype photographs and intricately carved ivory tusks.

Oakland Police Department

The Oakland Police Department is working with the FBI's Art Crime Team to investigate the heist and retrieve the missing items.

“It was devastating. It feels like a real violation. It feels like somebody entering your home,” said museum Chief Executive Lori Fogarty.

Fogarty said staff members were not working at the offsite storage facility the day of the burglary and discovered it the following morning, Oct. 16.

“IT was devastating,” museum CEO Lori Fogarty said. Above, carved tusks taken.

(Oakland Police Department)