A Japanese department store discovered on Thursday the theft of a gold tea cup, worth more than ten million yen (around 61,000 euros) and which was displayed in an unlocked box. Made from 24-karat gold, the teacup was one of a series of items shown for sale at an event at a Tokyo store of the Takashimaya chain.
The stolen cup was among the most expensive pieces of the thousand objects, mainly teaware and tableware, thus presented, a Takashimaya spokesperson explained to AFP.
“It was kept in an unlocked transparent box at that time so that it could easily be taken out and closely examined by customers
,” he said.
New incident
Security camera footage showed a man putting the cup in his bag and then running away, local media reported. Police are searching for the suspected culprit. The exhibition will continue but Takashimaya will strengthen security around it, the spokesperson assured.
This is a new incident for the chain after a fiasco in December concerning Christmas cakes, which excited social networks. More than 800 of around 2,900 frozen strawberry cakes sold online and delivered around Christmas appeared sagging once taken out of the packaging. Takashimaya had to offer a public and solemn mea culpa during a press conference broadcast on television by Kazuhisa Yokoyama, one of his senior officials.