Ten days before the start of the Olympic Games, the Telegraph reports that passes allowing vehicles into the Olympic Village in Athens have been stolen: Olympic security fiasco revealed by stolen passes. (Hat tip: NY Nana.)

A security source told the Telegraph that the passes were taken from the windscreens of unattended official vehicles. “Some people left the doors of their cars unlocked and the thieves just came in and took the accreditations,” he said.

It is not clear whether the thefts were opportunistic or part of a plot to breach the �700 million security operation for the games, which begin on August 13.

The security arrangements, described this week by Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, president of the Athens Organising Committee, or Athoc, as “the biggest contribution ever made by the armed forces at a time of peace in Greece” has mobilised some 70,000 soldiers and police.

But the theft of the passes raises fears that terrorists driving car or lorry bombs could still get through.

And that’s not the only serious problem in Greek security preparations:

According to sources in Athoc, the games have been hit by another security failure, after plans to check the backgrounds of staff, contractors and volunteers were dropped as organisers ran out of time.

The problems began in mid-May, when organisers began recruiting 7,000 workers to undertake jobs from general receptionists to housekeepers at the Olympic village.

But with so many people to process in only three months, the planned background checks were scrapped.