A museum known for its ninja attraction in Mie Prefecture, Japan was the target of a late-night burglary on Monday, with nearly $10,000 taken from a safe.
What happened: Iga-ryu Ninja Museum confirmed the events on Thursday, according to Kyodo News.
- The museum was reportedly unmanned since 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.
- Police were alerted after the alarm inside the museum’s office went off at around 1:30 a.m. but the thieves were already gone after the authorities arrived at the scene.
- The thieves managed to get away with a safe measuring 50 centimeters (19 inches) on all sides and weighed 150 kilograms (330 pounds).
- Authorities discovered the door of the office containing the safe was opened by a tool believed to be a crowbar.
Aftermath: CCTV footage from the incident showed a car pulling up near the office and a person forcibly changing the angle of the camera, NHK reported via SoraNews24.
- Investigators estimated it took the criminals about three minutes to pull off the heist.
- The safe contained at least one million Japanese yen ($9,430) in admission fees collected over the last weekend from around 1,100 people, the museum said.
Iga-ryu Ninja Museum is famous for its interactive experiences where tourists can learn how to use traditional ninja tools, throw shurikens and watch ninja shows. It has also suffered a massive financial hit amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Feature Image via m-louis .® (CC BY-SA 2.0)
