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Famed Ruby Slippers Stolen

Famed Ruby Slippers Stolen

A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” and insured for $1 million dollars have been stolen from a museum in Minnesota.

The slippers were taken in late August when a thief entered the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids through a window and broke into a display case.

As Dorothy in the 1939 movie, Garland wore the slippers as she clicked her heels and thought to herself: "There's no place like home."

Police Chief Leigh Serfling said: "There's not a whole lot of evidence. We're hoping that someone in the community has seen something."

'Major attraction'

The Judy Garland Museum had the slippers on loan from their owner, a Los Angeles man, for several weeks.

The museum is part of the Children's Discovery Museum in Grand Rapids, where Garland was born in 1922.

Museum director John Kelsch said the slippers were a "major attraction".

"It is our hope that the slippers can be recovered immediately," he said.

Four pairs of ruby slippers worn by Garland in the movie are known to exist, including one pair on display at the Smithsonian Institution. Another pair sold at Christie's auction house for $666,000.

(BBC News, August 30, 2005)