[MSN] Rare book stolen from Petersburg library.

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Rare book stolen from Petersburg library

09.01.2007, 11.58


ST PETERSBURG, January 9 (Itar-Tass) - A rare book published in late 19th
century has been stolen from the St.Petersburg-based Institute of History
and Material Culture under the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The book was stolen during the New Year holidays, city police told Itar-Tass
on Tuesday.

"An unidentified wrongdoer climbed a scaffold to reach a second storey
window, slipped through it, and stole from an unguarded room the book titled
"History and Monuments of Byzantine Enamel," printed in Petersburg in 1892,"
a police officer said.

The book is rarity, and experts are now estimating its price and historical
and artistic value. The issue of opening a criminal case over the theft is
under consideration.