6 men on trial over spectacular Dresden museum jewelry heist

BERLIN (AP) — Six men have gone on trial in Germany over a spectacular theft of 18th-century treasures from Dresden’s Green Vault Museum in 2019. The defendants, aged 23 to 28, appeared before a regional court in the eastern German city on Friday accused of gang robbery and arson. The heist is alleged to have resulted in the theft of 21 items of jewelry comprising about 4,300 gems worth more than $126 million. German news agency dpa reported that prosecutors said the men were armed with a revolver and a pistol with a silencer. The Green Vault is one of the world’s oldest museums. It was established in 1723 and contains the treasury of Augustus the Strong of Saxony.