6 Incredible Things That Have Actually Been Stolen

Unfortunately, theft is something that we have all had to get used to in our lives. Even though the vast majority of people will never steal anything, there are some who dedicate much of their time to taking things that don’t belong to them. These criminals will usually commit robberies that involve taking possessions like televisions, games consoles, electronic equipment or other valuables such as jewelry from houses. Occasionally organized gangs may target large businesses and steal more expensive items. This can include the likes of cars, industrial equipment or costly materials.

However, some thieves won’t limit themselves to the obvious targets. Instead they look to steal bizarre and weird things from all sorts of locations that most criminals would never dream to attempt to rob. This has led to a number of frankly strange robberies over the years, from the theft of huge vehicles to closely guarded works of art, that have left the public and those investigating completely baffled.


6. Boeing 727-223

In 2003, a Boeing 727-223 was stolen from the Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, the capital city of Angola. The plane had been sitting idle for 14 months at the airport while IRS Airlines were preparing to convert it for public use once again. The FBI and CIA believe that two men were responsible, an American pilot and Republic of Congo mechanic, who boarded the Boeing 727-223 on May 25th. They then taxied to the runway before taking off without communicating with air traffic control. Neither the plane or any of the two suspects have ever been seen since.


5. Guns

While guns are stolen every day, the Department for Homeland Security has been responsible for the loss of hundreds of firearms in the last decade. According to reports by the organization, many officers reported losing their weapons after leaving them in public places such as fast food restaurants, bars and bowling alleys, allowing opportunistic thieves the chance to steal the unattended guns.


4. Jamaican Sand

Police began investigating a group of thieves in 2008 when they suspected the gang was responsible for stealing hundreds of tons of white sand from the nearby Coral Spring beach on the northern coast of the country. While sand is not something that is usually stolen, Jamaican hotels have a high demand for sand to use in their resorts. Officials believe that the thieves may have been selling the sand onto these hotels.


3. Fighter Jet Engines

In 2010, a number of F-16 fighter jet engines were stolen in Israel, despite the fact that they were being stored at an active military base with a large presence of service personnel. What made the theft even more remarkable was that each engine weighed 3,700 pounds each, meaning that anyone stealing them would need lifting equipment and large vehicles for transportation. Following a very similar theft a year later, officials stated that they believed the engines had been stolen for their scrap metal value.


2. Killer Virus

Guanarito is a deadly virus that causes severe hemorrhaging, fevers and convulsions in humans and also kills roughly 25% of those who are infected with it. Five vials of the virus were kept at a high-security laboratory in Texas for the purpose of research and study but one of the vials went missing in 2013. Officials at the lab were unable to confirm how the virus had disappeared, leading to speculation that a member of staff could have taken it from the facility.


1. Empire State Building

You might think it would be difficult to steal a building as you can’t exactly just pick it up and move it to a new location. Even if you could, something as big as the Empire State Building would be impossible to hide, making it an unlikely target for theft. Nevertheless, it was stolen when the New York Daily News wanted to publicize an exploitable loophole to city officials and the public. Using some obviously fake documents with names of actors and actresses, they applied to have the deed to the building transferred to them. It took 90 minutes for the paperwork to go through but they gave it back to the rightful owners the next day.