China's Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, made a splash again, but not in a good way this time. The heavily-guarded (at least previously thought) former imperial palace was easily broken into by a 27-year-old thief acting on himself on May 8 and lost several pieces of art worth ten million yuan.

Fortunately for the Forbidden City, most of the lost items have been retrieved. However, in many other art thefts, some art pieces of inestimable value were stolen and have not been found yet. The following are the top 8 art thefts that have stunned the world.

 

   Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius

 

Erica Morini [Xinhua]

Value: $3 million

Time: October 1995

Venue: New York City apartment of Erica Morini

In October 1995, Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius was reported that a $3 million Stradivarius violin had been stolen from the New York City apartment of Erica Morini, a noted concert violinist. Made in 1727 by Antonio Stradivari, the violin is known as the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius.

Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier between 1644 and 1737. As a crafter of stringed instruments such as violins, cellos and guitars, Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. Stradivari's instruments are regarded as amongst the finest bowed stringed instruments ever created.