A ceremonial sword is one of a number of items stolen in a robbery at The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in County Down.

The burglary was discovered on Sunday morning (June 27) and it has been reported the robbers were targeting the former Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) police station. They also made off with an RIC District Inspector's uniform tunic, a helmet and a station badge.

Covering almost 200 acres of beautiful parkland, the museum allows visitors to step back in time and stroll through a typical 1900s Ulster town, including cottages, schools, shops and a police station. It was named the winner of the Best Visitor Experience at the 2009 Northern Irish Tourist Board Awards.

Police have appealed for anyone with information about the crime to come forward.

In a more high profile robbery this year, French authorities requested the help of Interpol after the Modern Art Museum in Paris was broken into and works by Picasso and Matisse among others were stolen.

In February 2008, four paintings by Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh and Monet are stolen from a private museum in Zurich, while two paintings by Edvard Munch, The Scream and Madonna, were stolen from Oslo’s Munch Museum but were later recovered.

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Interpol help sought after Paris art heist
France has requested the help of Interpol after five paintings worth an estimated EUR 100 million were stolen from the Modern Art Museum in Paris last Thursday (May 20th).