The great assault on the vault in Dresden in which priceless treasures were stolen

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(CNN) - About 100 pieces of an invaluable treasure were stolen in a bold robbery at the vault of a castle in the German city of Dresden.

Several criminals entered the Green Vault on Monday, one of the largest collections of masterpieces in Europe, taking artifacts of "incalculable value," according to Roland Woeller, a local politician.

"This is an attack against the cultural identity of all Saxons and the state of Saxony," Woeller added.

The vault features an amazing collection of historical jewels and precious ornaments, from brilliant bowls carved in glass and agate to figures adorned with jewels and cups made of ostrich eggs with gold.

One of the most famous pieces in the collection, a 41-carat green diamond known as the Dresden Green Diamond, was not in the museum at that time. He is currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, as part of a loan.

Police received a call on Monday at 4:59 am about museum security, saying a robbery was taking place, Dresden police president Jörg Kubiessa told reporters at a press conference.

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"Two suspects were seen on the CCTV," said Dresden criminal police chief, Volker Lange, adding that others may also have been involved.

The video was later published by the Saxon police. It shows two people dressed in dark clothes, moving quickly through the gallery with flashlights. One of them then uses an ax to break the glass (the video reveals that the author hits at least nine strokes before the glass breaks).

Lange said that after cutting a fence and breaking a window, "the suspects came in ... walked to a glass case, broke it and left, disappeared."

(Credit: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden / David Brandt via AP)

Near the time of the robbery, an electrical incident turned off the street lights in the area. According to a statement published later, investigators work under the assumption that the two incidents were related.

Police also said thieves left the scene in an Audi A6. Lange said authorities issued alerts and closed exits on the highway. An identical car was set on fire in an underground garage in a different part of the city shortly after the robbery, police added.

Marion Ackermann, director of the Dresden State Art Collection, said "incalculable" treasures dating back to the 18th century had been stolen from the vault.

He added that the treasures were owned by the state of Saxony and were not insured, which is common for state-owned artifacts.

Credit: Saxony Police

On Monday afternoon the police published images of some of the items that were stolen. A pearl necklace and other pieces of jewelry and items containing diamonds and precious stones are included.

Ackermann said the value of the robbery is difficult to determine, because the items are not considered for sale. Among the stolen pieces were diamonds, pearls and rubies.

She said she hoped there was no market to market the stolen pieces because the treasures of the Green Vault are well known.

Christopher Marinello, executive president of Art Recovery International, a law firm specializing in the recovery of stolen works of art, said that in most cases of theft of art, the authors then come forward to collect a ransom from a insurance company or a government.

"However, this narrative changes when it comes to gold and precious stones," he said. "Gold can melt quickly and the stones are cut again so they can't be identified."

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Ackermann said the idea that the pieces were modified was "a horrible thought."

Credit: Saxony Police

But Marinello stressed that the cultural value of the articles might not be important for criminals. "They are ruthless cultural barbarians who would steal from their own mother," he said.

Ackermann added that security personnel monitor the museum 24 hours a day.

When asked why security guards did not intervene to prevent thieves from fleeing the scene, he said the correct security protocol was followed. "The guards are unarmed," he said.

Police said they had no information about whether thieves had "internal knowledge", but added that they were investigating that possibility.

Zwischenzeitlich hat die Polizeidirektion #Dresden auch Bilder zu einem Teil der signohlenen Schmuckstücke aus dem Museum # GrünesGewölbe veröffentlicht: https://t.co/b6a1Lcx1EY pic.twitter.com/jpwrseePuD

- Polizei Sachsen (@PolizeiSachsen) November 25, 2019

Saxony Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer tweeted that the robbery meant that all the Saxons had been "stolen."

"The valuables found here have been won with effort by the people of our Free State for many centuries," Kretschmer wrote.

The collection housed in the Green Vault was created at the beginning of the 18th century by August II the Strong, ruler of Saxony. He worked to make Dresden an important center for the arts, inviting talented sculptors, goldsmiths and painters to establish himself and commissioned a series of magnificent rooms to display their valuables, as a way to announce the cultural prominence of the city in addition to its wealth.

The museum said it was closed on Monday for "organizational reasons" and a special police commission was established after the robbery.

Ackermann said the museum expected to reopen later this week, but that it would depend on the authorities' investigation.

Dresden