– $3 million in gold nuggets stolen from Yreka courthouse in California gold country (Washington Post, Feb. 2, 2012):
YREKA, Calif. — Thieves have stolen $3 million worth of gold nuggets from a lobby display case inside a courthouse in California gold country.
Investigators say surveillance video indicates two men broke into the Siskiyou County Courthouse in Yreka on Wednesday and smashed thick display case glass to get the gold.
The Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/wq3td9 ) reports an alarm on the display case did not activate.
Siskiyou County borders Oregon and is the site of an 1851 Gold Rush known as the second Mother Lode. Yreka is the county seat in the shadow of 14,000-foot Mount Shasta.
The gold was donated over the years by miners.