V&A loses £500,000 of exhibits in latest theft

A series of religious Italian Renaissance plaquettes worth about £500,000 have been stolen from London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

It is the third time in as many months the V&A has been hit by the theft of small objects from its galleries.

The museum appealed for help from the art and antiques worlds to trace the eight bronze plaquettes, each around 10cm high, which were stolen on Wednesday.

The items, which date from the 15th and 16th century, were taken during afternoon opening hours when thieves used tools to force open a wooden-framed showcase.

Two plaquettes are by Riccio, three are from the workshop of Donatello and three by Moderno. Director Mark Jones said: "The V&A is in the middle of a major programme to replace old display cases with new cases. This theft underlines the need to proceed as rapidly as possible."

In October nine exhibits, worth £60,000, were taken from the Ceramics Galleries. The following month 15 Meissen figures, worth £2,000 each, were stolen from the same galleries, which were then closed to install new security systems.