‘Golden cabbage’ leaves stolen off Vienna landmark

Vienna : Thieves have stolen half a dozen of the gilded leaves that make up the famous “golden cabbage” dome on the iconic Secession building in Vienna, police said Wednesday.

The Art Nouveau building, completed in 1898, is undergoing restoration and the culprits made use of the scaffolding to clamber up and prise off six to eight of the leaves, police spokeswoman Irina Steirer said.

The theft from the roof, visible from afar and a well-known landmark in the Austrian capital, took place on Monday night, Steirer said.

The building by architect Joseph Maria Olbrich was constructed to house works by Gustav Klimt and other artists after they quit the stuffy Kuenstlerhaus to found a new art association called the Secession.