A pair of rare 18th century slippers from India, decorated with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, and sewn with gold thread, were stolen from a Toronto museum on Sunday.
The slippers are worth about C$160,000 (78,000 pounds) and were once worn by royalty. They went missing while the Bata Shoe Museum was open to visitors, Toronto police said on Monday.
No alarms were set off and preliminary investigations have so far turned up little.
The theft may have been a prank or targeted deliberately for sale to a collector, police said. They said the shoes would be worth little to the general public because the gems were uncut and unpolished.
The flamboyant slippers might also have dubious fashion value today.
一双罕见的印度18世纪的拖鞋日前在多伦多博物馆失窃。这双拖鞋上面不仅镶嵌着钻石、红宝石和翡翠，而且还是用金线缝制而成的。
据路透社1月23日报道，多伦多警方透露说，这双拖鞋价值7.8万英镑，曾属于印度皇室。它于22日在巴塔鞋博物馆开馆后丢失。案发时，博物馆内警报器没有及时响起，而到目前为止警方找到的线索也很有限。
警方透露，窃贼的作案动机可能是恶作剧，或者专为特定的某一名收藏家行窃。警方指出，对普通公众而言，这双拖鞋几乎不值什么钱，因为它上面的宝石还没有经过雕琢和打磨。当然，这双“珠光宝气”的拖鞋即使在今天可能也不会过时。
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