$25,000 reward offered after massive gold heist in New Jersey

A gold nugget, found in Nevada, which was taken during the heist. (Jeff Glover/Courtesy Sterling Hill Mining Museum)

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The safe at Sterling Hill Mining Museum where more than $750,000 in gold was stolen from in 2011. (Sterling Hill Mining Museum)

A gold nugget, found in Venezuela, which was taken during the heist. (Jeff Glover/Courtesy Sterling Hill Mining Museum)

A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the capture of thieves who smashed a display case in a New Jersey museum and swiped more than $750,000 in gold.

The brazen July 2011 heist happened at the Sterling Hill Mining Museum during two tours of the safe that held the valuables, the Daily Record reports.

Robert Hauck, a member of the museum’s board of trustees, said the thieves used a 4-foot-long ax to break through a half-inch of ballistic plastic where the 15 pieces of gold – from places including Australia and Brazil -- were being held.

“They were in and out in two or three minutes. It was a smash-and-grab job,” he told the Daily Record.

An investigation into the heist has hit a dead end, while police declined to comment, saying it is still an open case.

The display where the gold was stolen has since been filled with new gold and reinforced with thicker ballistic plastic.