Masked raiders steal rhino heads from Dublin museum

The four rhinoceros heads, worth about £428,000 each, have been stolen from museum storage in Ireland (National Museum of Ireland/PA)

Four rhino heads with horns worth a total of £428,000 if sold to make Chinese medicine, were stolen from a museum's archives.

Three masked men broke into the National Museum Archives in north Dublin on Wednesday night and tied up a security guard before making off with eight horns.

The 100-year-old horns had been placed in storage after a spate of similar thefts from museums and private collections in Europe. Powdered horn is used for medicine in China and Vietnam, although it has no medical value.