It was the scene of a large diamond theft at about 4am on December 2, 2002. Thieves raided the "treasure chamber" at the centre of an exhibition, taking the most valuable diamond-containing objects with an insured value of about 6 million euro. The most valuable items were on loan from a national museum of Portugal. The high-tech security systems at the museum were evaded and theft was not discovered until the opening time of the exhibition.