Art crimes, are a big deal, both for those who get the money, and also for those who sustain the losses. These are the top ten largest art crimes according to the FBI to date.

1.  Iraqi Looted and Stolen Artifacts – This Statue of Entemena was looted from the Iraqi Museum in 2003, but recovered in 2006. Many pieces are still missing, however.

2.  Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft – In this heist, thieves stole about $300 million worth of art including Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Monet from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts during 1990.

3.  Theft of Caravaggio’s Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco – This stealing of a nativity scene back in 1969 still ranks among the top ten art thefts ever.

4.   Theft of the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius – Worth $3 million, this violin was stolen Erica Morini’s (a violinist) New York City apartment.

5.  The Van Gogh Museum Robbery – Two of Van Gogh’s paintings, called “View of the Sea at Scheveningen”", and “Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen”, were stolen from his museum in Amsterdam in 2002.  The two thieves were actually caught in this case, but the paintings have yet to be found.

6.  Theft of Cezanne’s View of Auvers-sur-Oise – Paul Cezanne’s painting was stolen from he Ashmolean Museum in Oxford during 1999.

7.  Theft of the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Murals, Panels 3-A and 3-B -Two, highly valued, Maxfield Parrish panels were cut right out of the frames in West Hollywood during 2002.

8.  Theft from the Museu Chacara do Céu -In Rio de Janeiro, during 2006, four paintings, that were works by Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso, were stolen from the Museu Chacara do Céu.

9.  Theft of Van Mieris’s A Cavalier – Dutch Master Frans Van Mieris’ self-portrait was stolen from the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia during 2007.  The funny thing about this theft, is that it occurred during the day, while the museum was open.  Talk about bad security…

10.  Theft from E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich – This collection had four works stolen from it in 2008, and two remain missing to this day.