Marilyn jewels stolen from exhibition

VALUABLE jewellery once belonging to screen-legend Marilyn Monroe has been stolen from an exhibition, Scotland Yard said yesterday.

A gold ring with an "M" motif, encrusted with a diamond, and a gold bangle, together worth around €58,500, were stolen from an exhibition at the Roald Dahl gallery in London yesterday.

Police said the items were stolen at around 3.20pm and a man was arrested near the gallery in connection with the thefts and remains in custody. Another male suspect is still at large.

A Yard spokesman said: "Police are seeking a male suspect who is thought to have taken two valuable items of jewellery once owned by Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe.

"There is no suspect description at this stage. The items were taken from a London exhibition at the Roald Dahl gallery.

Marilyn Monroe Life Of A Legend opened at the County Hall Gallery on the South Bank a week ago, on April 9. Billed as "the biggest ever exhibition devoted to the life of the ultimate screen icon", more than 250 items are on show.

Among them are previously unseen photographs, mementoes from the Hollywood star's childhood and designer dresses. Highlights include a bed which the star slept in, and the dress and jewellery worn on her first date with Jo DiMaggio.

Works by Andy Warhol, Peter Blake and Henri Cartier-Bresson, inspired by the Some Like It Hot star, are also on display. The exhibition, designed as a tribute to Marilyn's "lasting popularity", was set to run until September 14 in the former home of the Greater London Council.