The most precious art pieces can be worth hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars, which is why criminals occasionally target them. If a group of thieves can make off with a haul of expensive artworks, they might never have to work again . . . unless they get caught.

If you’ve ever wondered what some of the most significant art heists are, we cover them below!

Mona Lisa -- Paris, 1911

In August 1911, a painter set up his easel close to where the Mona Lisa was hanging in the Louvre in Paris. When he looked up, he was shocked to notice the famous painting was gone.

French police searched for Leonardo da Vinci’s masterwork for more than two years. At the end of 1913, a house painter in Italy called an art dealer in Florence and told him he had the painting.

The police swarmed the man’s residence and arrested him. It turned out that Vincenzo Peruggia had strolled into the Louvre and taken the Mona Lisa from the wall, and hid the painting inside his coat.

The thief served only six months for this infamous heist. Perhaps he had an excellent criminal defense attorney in his corner?

National Museum of Fine Arts -- Stockholm, 2010

In 2010, crooks set off car bombs in several parts of Stockholm to distract everyone, especially the authorities, from their robbery of the National Museum of Fine Arts.

Three men raided the museum at 5 PM on December 22. One with a machine gun terrorized museum staff and guests in the lobby while the other two stole art pieces worth a total of $31 million.

They took a Rembrandt self-portrait and two paintings by French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The crooks fled the scene in a small boat by virtue of the museum’s waterfront location.

Fortunately, all the works were recovered by 2005 and returned to the museum. Ten people were arrested in connection with the caper.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum -- Boston, 1990

More than 30 years have passed since two thieves dressed as Boston police officers robbed this famous museum of 13 works of art valued at a stunning $500 million. This was the biggest heist in history in the US.

Unfortunately, none of the pieces have been recovered. The empty frames remain on the walls, where artworks by Rembrandt, Edouard Manet, and Edgar Degas once hung.

The FBI has pursued dozens of leads over the years, and some criminal enterprises have been exposed, but the paintings were never located. If you have any leads, the museum is offering a $10 million reward.

National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design -- Oslo, 1994

On May 7, 1994, the National Gallery Museum in Oslo, Norway, had some late-night visitors. The burglars were polite and made as little fuss as possible.

They put a ladder against one of the windows, broke in, and stole The Scream by Edvard Munch. But, unfortunately, they didn’t grab anything else, and they took just one minute to grab the world-famous piece and run for it.

The thieves left a note to the staff thanking them for the lax security. But the entire theft was caught on video.

The museum was the target of much national outrage because the most famous painting in the country had been stolen. National police went to work and tracked down the four men responsible.

One, a well-known burglar from Munich, was sent to prison for six years. Happily, the painting was eventually found and returned to the museum -- with much tighter security!

Famous artworks are worth millions of dollars, so it’s no wonder thieves occasionally attempt to grab them if they can. But when famous works are taken, the police don’t take it kindly and usually track down the perpetrators.

They often forget what a challenge it can be to try to sell a famous painting, such as Rembrandt’s Christ In The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. But some ambitious thieves still try!