16th-century book stolen from exhibit in Austrian castle

However, the crime went unnoticed for days because the perpetrators left behind the cover of another book.

A 16th-century book was stolen from an exhibition in a castle in Upper Austria, but the crime went unnoticed for days because the perpetrators left behind the cover of another book, police said Monday.

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The 1532 book, Astronomicum Caesareum by Petrus Apianus, disappeared from Peuerbach Castle sometime between August 23 and August 26, when a guide discovered it missing, police said. The book, worth about €30,000 (US$38,500), had been displayed in an exhibition case under an unsecured glass panel, a police statement said.

The thieves left in its place a double page of illustrations glued into the pigskin cover of another book, which police have yet to identify, said Ernst Noebauer of the Upper Austria police department.

Police suspect the theft happened during the day when the exhibition was open to the public, but video surveillance so far has provided no clues.