By RICHARD BERNSTEIN The New York Times January 26, 2006
BERLIN, Jan. 25 - Advice to art thieves: never get angry and depart from the plan. In particular, don't use a new cellphone to send a message to the police. It may prove your undoing.
Or, at least, that was the downfall of Robert Mang, a 50-year-old specialist in security-alarm systems who in 2003 pulled off one of the biggest art heists in recent years: the removal of the "Saliera" (or saltcellar), a rare gold-plated sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini, from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
After holding the Cellini masterpiece, valued at roughly $60 million, for nearly three years and making two attempts to collect about $12 million in ransom, Mr. Mang was identified as the culprit late last week. On Friday, the police had circulated security camera images of him buying a cellphone that he used to send a text message.
On Saturday, after the photographs appeared on television and in newspapers, Mr. Mang, described by police as a successful businessman with no financial problems and no criminal record, turned himself in. On Sunday, he led the police to a wooded area about 50 miles northeast of Vienna where he had buried the legendary 10 inch-high sculpture inside a lead box.