Harry Potter limited first edition book stolen

LONDON - A limited first edition of a Harry Potter book worth over $9,500 has been stolen from an art gallery.

The rare copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was pinched from a display box in the Creative Art Gallery in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, reports thesun.co.uk.

The book, which was for sale, was being displayed as part of an exhibition. It was stolen while a gallery employee was dealing with a group of people.

Since she was distracted, a man who was not a part of the group took the book from under an unsecured display box, while a woman acted ignorant.

Thames Valley police released CCTV images of two people who they would like to interrogate regarding the theft.

“I believe this was an opportunist crime and the offenders took advantage of the gallery assistant being occupied by a group of people. There were only between 300 and 500 copies of this limited edition ever published, so it is very rare,” said police officer Geoffrey Allen.