EPA4 historic gold artefacts had been stolen from a Dutch museum in an in a single day raid within the early hours of Saturday morning.
Thieves used explosives to blast their means into the Drents Museum in Assen, which was internet hosting an exhibition of priceless Romanian jewelry constituted of gold and silver.
They left with three Dacian spiral bracelets and the exhibit’s central piece – the strikingly embellished Helmet of Cotofenesti, which was crafted nearly 2,500 years in the past.
Romania’s ministry of tradition has promised to take all doable steps to get better the stolen objects, which had been loaned to the Dutch museum from Bucharest.
Drents Museum director Harry Tupan stated workers had been “intensely shocked” by the housebreaking, which he stated was the largest incident in its 170-year historical past.
Police had been known as to the scene after reviews of an explosion at 03:45 native time (04:45 GMT) on Saturday.
Officers carried out forensic investigation and reviewed CCTV footage all through the day.
Police are additionally investigating a burning automobile which was discovered on a close-by street, which they think could also be linked to the housebreaking.
“A doable state of affairs is that the suspects switched to a different automobile within the neighborhood of the hearth,” a Dutch police assertion stated.
No arrests have been made, however authorities suspect a number of people had been concerned. Police have known as world policing company Interpol to assist with the investigation.
Getty PhotographsA press release from the museum stated 4 “archaeological masterpieces” had been taken, together with the Cotofenesti helmet, which dates from round 450 BC, and three historic Dacian royal bracelets.
All 4 stolen objects are of big cultural significance to Romania, with the Helmet of Cotofenesti thought-about a nationwide treasure.
Within the late Nineteen Nineties, 24 bracelets from the identical period had been dug up by treasure hunters and offered overseas.
The Romanian state labored for years to get them again from collectors in Austria, Germany, France, the UK and the USA.
