The Necklace worn on Titanic stolen from Copenhagen exhibit

A necklace once worn by a passenger on the ill-fated ocean liner the Titanic has been stolen from a traveling exhibit in Copenhagen, the exhibit venue said Monday.

The necklace was stolen Saturday during opening hours at the exhibit hall in Tivoli park in the centre of the Danish capital, and the thief or thieves had gotten away without tripping the alarm system, Tivoli spokesman Torben Plank told AFP.

"We think they were not professionals because there was jewelry that was much more expensive in the exhibition case," he added.

Luis Ferreiro of the Musealia company that owns the traveling exhibit said in a statement that "the precious necklace belonged to the Widener family who were one of the richest families onboard the Titanic in 1912."

He said the piece of jewelry was worth at least 14,000 euros ($19,000).

However, he said, "it will not be possible (for the thieves) to sell the necklace as it is known internationally."

Plank explained that the necklace had probably been owned by Eleanor Widener, who survived when the "unsinkable" Titanic went down, but rumour had it the chain was found in the pocket of a butler, whose body was fished out of the Atlantic.

Copenhagen's historic attraction park Tivoli has offered a $1,000 reward for any information leading to the necklace being found.

The Titanic hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean on her maiden voyage from Southampton, southern England, to New York City in April 1912, and sank in just over two and a half hours, killing around 1,500 people.