Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Hundreds of artifacts have been stolen from Green Vault palace in Dresden (Gemany) in what police are calling the largest art raid since World War II.

Thieves appear to have pulled off the biggest art heist in decades after they broke into one of Europe’s largest collections of treasures and made off with glittering objects valued at as much as US$1 billion, the Daily Beast reported.

The robbery happened in the early hours of Monday in the German city of Dresden. Hundreds of priceless artifacts have been stripped from the gallery in what police are calling the largest art heist since the Second World War.

The thieves—who escaped the scene and are now on the run—reportedly started a fire in the early hours of Monday that led to a power failure at the palace, disarming the elaborate network of security alarms.

German media has reported the thieves then twisted back iron grill bars on a ground-floor window to gain access to the treasury’s historic collection.