The wax figure of the composer was on display at "Next to Mozart," a multimedia museum that opened last year. The wax head has an estimated value of euro15,000 (US$18,427), but museum employees told Austria Press Agency that the work was truly unique -- and appealed for its return.

"It must have happened between 8 p.m. Friday, when we closed, and today before 9 a.m.," museum employee Elisabeth Stoeckl told APA. "When we opened up again, Mozart's head was gone."

The item was part of a Mozart figure on the museum's fourth floor. "It stands just next to the wax figure of Herbert von Karajan," Stoeckl said.