THIEVES who pulled off one of the biggest art heists the UK has ever seen could have been mistaken for students packing up and going home for the lockdown.
The gang broke into Christ Church Picture Gallery under the cover of darkness at around 11pm on March 14 last year.
Read more from our breaking story at the time.
They climbed onto the roof of the gallery and smashed through a skylight, using two ladders that had been stolen from Christ Church Meadow to get in and out.
They tore the art from the walls, smashed them out of the frames and made a getaway for freedom out of the skylight.
Police think they could have got in through the meadow and across Jubilee Bridge, which leads to Iffley Road.
But another theory the investigators are working with is that they arrived by boat - which could have been hired.
Once inside, they stole three historic sixteenth-century paintings, pictured below, thought to be worth more than £10million.
They carried them out on huge wooden stretchers to keep the shape but the art has never been found.
So now, a year on, police have made a desperate plea on national television for any clues that could help catch the criminals.
The force appeared on Crimewatch Live yesterday to ask for help, showing unseen CCTV images from the burglary.
If you have any information that can help the investigatoin call police on 101 quoting the reference number 43200087031.
Detective Inspector James Mather, of Oxford CID, also said: “We are continuing to appeal for anyone who may have witnessed this incident, or anyone who may have information about what happened to places come forward.
“From our enquiries, we believe that there are two possible routes that the offenders may have taken to carry out this burglary. The most likely route is through the meadow and across Jubilee Bridge, which leads out onto the Iffley Road. However, another potential route is that the offenders may have entered and/or left using a boat.
“As such we would appeal to anyone who has a boat on the River Thames, or its tributaries near to Oxford, to please get in touch if they believe they noticed any unusual activity that night.
“Furthermore, we believe that the offenders left the paintings on their wooden stretchers that help give them structure and so they would have been carrying large, distinctive objects. Therefore, we would also like to speak to anyone who may have been in the local area around the time of this incident if they saw anything suspicious, particularly a group carrying unusually large objects or loading up a vehicle."
He continued: “As this happened just as the first lockdown had been announced, at the time you may have put it down to students packing up to return home, however I would ask that if you saw anything, no matter how insignificant you believe it to be, please report it to us.
“Already we have conducted significant searches of CCTV but we would still ask any residents who have CCTV or dash-cams in which there is a chance the footage may be backed up to check it in case there is anything captured that could assist our investigation.
“I would also ask people to consider whether they rented a vehicle to an individual/group at the time of the incident that made them suspicious. Or perhaps, have you rented a storage unit or space to someone that again has made you suspicious? It could be a possibility that the offenders have hired a storage unit to keep the paintings in."
Appealing directly to the gang, he said: “Finally, I would urge those responsible for this burglary to please come forward and hand these paintings in. People within the art world and beyond are aware that these paintings have been stolen and so they will be extremely difficult to sell through any legal channels."
If you have any information that can help the investigatoin call police on 101 quoting the reference number 43200087031.
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