Antiquities Are Stolen From Greek Museum.

Dozens of antiquities were stolen when two masked gunmen burst into a small museum at the birthplace of the ancient Olympics in southern Greece on Friday, the Associated Press reported. The robbers smashed display cases with hammers in what was the second major museum theft in two months in the debt-ridden country. The head of the union of guards for culture ministry museums and other sites said spending cuts had compromised security at hundreds of museums and ancient sites across Greece. The robbers took 65 artifacts and tied up the museum's only guard at the museum of the Games at Olympia, officials said. A culture ministry official said the stolen antiquities--which included small objects made of bronze and pottery, including figurines, vases and lamps--dated from the 9th to the 4th centuries B.C. Also stolen was a seal ring dating to Late Bronze Age Mycenaean times. Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos submitted his resignation after the morning robbery at the museum some 210 miles southwest of Athens. It was unclear whether it had been accepted by Prime Minister Lucas Papademos. In January thieves stole artworks by Picasso and Piet Mondrian from the National Gallery in one of the best-guarded areas of central Athens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]