ARTWORK WITH COVER DESIGNED BY SALVADOR DALÍ STOLEN

ISSOIRE, OCTOBER 6 /SRNA/ - An artwork worth several million euros, featuring a massive bronze cover designed by renowned Spanish painter Salvador Dalí, was stolen overnight from the Centre for Contemporary Art museum in Issoire, police said.

The stolen work is Joseph Foret's "Book of Apocalypse" - a monumental artwork consisting of hand-painted pages, weighing around 210 kilograms and created between 1958 and 1961 with contributions from prominent figures in 20th-century art and literature, including Jean Cocteau, Bernard Buffet and Jean Giono.

The bronze cover, weighing around 150 kilograms and designed by Dalí, is decorated with gold, precious stones and rare shells. The unique book is described as one of the heaviest and most expensive in the world, with its value estimated at several million euros.

The prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation.

The theft in Issoire is the latest in a series of major robberies targeting French museums.

Among the valuables and works of art stolen over the past year are four paintings by prominent Impressionist Auguste Renoir, eight pieces of royal jewelry, around 2,000 ancient coins made of precious metals, six kilograms of gold nuggets, as well as 27 items from the Lalique Museum, valued at 4.5 million euros.