LOS ANGELES, April 4: In what authorities are calling one of the largest cash heists in Los Angeles history, thieves absconded with an estimated $30 million from a money storage facility in the San Fernando Valley on Easter Sunday, a senior Los Angeles Police Department official revealed on Wednesday.

According to L.A. Police Department Cmdr. Elaine Morales, the burglary took place late Sunday night at an undisclosed facility in Sylmar that handles and stores cash from businesses across the region.

The burglars managed to penetrate both the building and the secure safe where the money was housed, Morales stated. Law enforcement sources have indicated that this break-in ranks among the city's largest burglaries in terms of cash stolen and eclipses any previous armored car heists in Los Angeles.

Details surrounding the burglary remain shrouded in mystery. Sources familiar with the investigation revealed that a burglary crew allegedly breached the facility's roof to gain access to the vault. However, questions linger about how they evaded detection by the alarm system.

Furthermore, initial inspections of the safe from the exterior revealed no signs of forced entry. The business operators, whose identity remains undisclosed by the police, only discovered the staggering theft when they opened the vault on Monday.

Upon receiving the report, authorities swiftly responded, with detectives from the LAPD’s Mission Division station converging on the crime scene to collect evidence.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that very few individuals would have been privy to the substantial sums of cash stored within the safe, law enforcement sources noted.

Described as elaborate, the break-in suggests the involvement of a seasoned crew of burglars with intimate knowledge of breaching secure facilities undetected.

An FBI spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday night that both the agency and the LAPD are actively investigating the theft.

This incident marks one of the largest cash heists since the notorious robbery on September 12, 1997, when nearly $18.9 million was stolen from the former Dunbar Armored facility on Mateo Street. The perpetrators of that heist were eventually apprehended.

Sunday's brazen theft also follows closely on the heels of another high-profile crime - the multimillion-dollar theft of jewelry from a Brink's big rig at a Grapevine truck stop nearly two years ago.

During that incident, thieves made off with an estimated $100 million in jewels and valuables in a daring overnight operation. To this day, the perpetrators of that heist remain at large.