Art, syrup, a legendary stone: Maxie Dara's 3 favorite heists of the last century

Crime is a subject often synonymous with tragedy, with strife, with human suffering. But sometimes it’s also a little goofy.

I spent my first two books, A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer and A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Cheating Death, focused on the murder of it all. My search history probably has me on at least one watch list and I can give you a handful of creative ways to kill somebody with a glitter pen if you ask nicely.

But for my third dive back into my world of death with A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Living Twice, I decided to play against type and go for a silly little heist instead. And it turns out I’m not alone. It fact, it turns out recent history is full of silly little heists that take the concept of a crime and turn it into a certified shenanigan. From student hijinks to condiment capers, here are my top three favorite heists of the last century.

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The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist

Come with me to my home nation of Canada, to my birth province of Quebec, where poutine is plentiful and everybody’s at least a little disappointed in your lack of French fluency. It also happens to be a hub of maple syrup production, though that feels like something of an understatement. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, “In 2020, Quebec contributed 96.4 per cent of Canadian maple product exports.”

With all that sweet tree nectar flowing, it may come as no surprise to you (though it genuinely did to me) to learn that the province keeps a syrup stockpile in the form of the Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve. Think of it as a sort of Fort Knox, but instead of gold it’s filled with pancake toppings, which is way more appealing in my opinion. And I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Between 2011 and 2012, a group of sticky-fingered (sorry) Reserve employees decided to help themselves to the stock in order to sell it to other provinces and states. This slow-motion heist involved months of siphoning maple syrup out of heavy barrels. The thieves would then either replace their loot with water or leave the barrels empty. Unfortunately for the robbers, there’s a bit of a difference between an empty barrel and one filled with syrup—a six-hundred-pound difference, in fact.

When an inspector for the organization in charge of the Reserve tried to climb up a stack of these supposedly heavy barrels only for one to nearly topple under his weight, he became just a smidge suspicious. Sure enough, a subsequent investigation found that around three thousand tonnes of maple syrup had been stolen, its value a staggering $18 million.

The investigation also uncovered a crime ring comprised of syrup industry insiders, from truck drivers to sugar shack workers, who had rented a separate space in the same warehouse as the Reserve so they could perpetrate their crimes unnoticed. Though my favourite fact about this entire case is that a maple syrup black market exists, and the ringleader of the operation, Richard Vallières, had already been a part of it long before this heist. Some criminal underworlds just sound more delicious than others, you know?

The Stone of Scone Heist

Kids these days, with their music and their haircuts and their schemes to steal back ancient symbols of Scottish heritage.

It’s Christmas in 1950 and four Glasgow University students have decided to crank their youthful rebellion up a notch. While other twenty-somethings are sleeping off hangovers or opening presents with their families, Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart are plotting to retrieve the Stone of Scone.

Also known as the Stone of Destiny, the roughly three-hundred-and-thirty-six-pound block of red sandstone had been an important part of Scottish coronations for hundred of years before King Edward I stole it for England during the 13th century. During its long history the stone was imbued with rich legends, connecting its heritage all the way back to the first king of Scotland and making it an important national symbol. South of the border it continued to be used in coronations, this time siting beneath each English monarch as they were crowned, but its importance to Scotland remained.

Centuries after its initial theft by King Edward I, the four plucky students decided to reclaim the stone in an act of national pride. The group drove south and waited until midnight to steal the Stone of Scone from where it now lay in Westminster Abbey.

With Kay on guard duty, the three men tried to hoist the stone to freedom, but it broke in two during their attempt. Ian took the smaller piece while Gavin and Alan took the larger and fled in a separate car. Back with Kay, Ian soon found himself in the crosshairs of a passing officer, but in an Ocean’s Eleven-like twist, the students disguised their heist as a youthful makeout session and managed to get away.

The story only gets more wild from there, with the stone halves finding themselves hidden under floorboards and buried under a campsite before they were eventually reunited. And while it did end up returning to England after the students were caught, the Stone of Scone was given back to Scotland in 1996, and none of the young thieves faced legal consequences for their actions.

The Louvre Heist

The Louvre is no stranger to an entertaining heist. In 1911, a man called Vincenzo Peruggia dressed as a museum worker and snatched the Mona Lisa in broad daylight. Unfortunately for the Louvre but very fortunately for schadenfreude fans everywhere, the museum art minister was on holiday at the time and before he left he had apparently insisted, “don’t call me unless the Louvre burns down or the Joconde [French for Mona Lisa] is stolen.”

Fast forward just shy of a hundred years and this same level of absolute tomfoolery was on display again. In 2025, two men dressed as construction workers, hoisted themselves up to a museum balcony using a furniture lift and stole €88 million worth of French Crown Jewels in under eight minutes. Though the culprits were eventually caught, the heist will live on in infamy for both its devious efficiency and the frankly top tier memes it inspired.

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