video transcript

Up to 65 ancient artifacts have been stolen from the Museum of the History of the Olympic Games. Greek officials say thieves broke into the building in Ancient Olympia in the early hours of the morning, and threatened and tied up a guard. Authorities say two other guards at the museum were not at their posts when the crime was committed. The Greek culture ministry is pinning its hopes on security camera footage. SOUNDBITE: Lina Mendoni, Secretary General of Culture, saying (Greek): "There should have been three guards here according to the local euphorate. There should have been three. It has a full security system which everyone knows was updated in 2004. At the moment we're waiting for material from the surveillance cameras but there should have been three guards at their posts." Ancient Olympia's mayor says the museum has already been forced to close once before because of staff shortages. State spending cuts have seen about 2,000 temporary ministry of culture workers laid off since last year, many of them employed as security guards. It's also another embarrassing art theft for Greece. In January three works including one by Pablo Picasso were taken from the National Gallery in Athens. Paul Chapman, Reuters