Famed physicist Ernest O. Lawrence's Nobel Prize -- a medal made of 23-karat gold and worth about $4,000 -- has been stolen from a locked display case at the Lawrence Hall of Science in the Berkeley hills, police said.
University of California-Berkeley police said Monday that the coin-like 1939 Nobel Prize in physics was displayed with other artifacts from Lawrence's life and work in the sprawling E.O. Lawrence Memorial Room at the science museum.
Police had no suspects in the grand theft Monday, but a reward has been offered. Museum staff members say they aren't taking the theft lightly.
``It is a Nobel medal so there is potential that it could go outside of Berkeley,'' Celaya said.
The prize weighs about four ounces and is 2 1/2 inches in diameter, Schneider said.
The hall of science is offering a $2,500 reward for its safe return and information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever stole it.
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