Thieves used explosives to break into a museum in the Netherlands and steal several Romanian prehistoric artefacts, including a 2,500-year-old gold helmet.
They blasted open a door at the Drents Museum in the northeastern city of Assen and made off with the solid gold Geto-Dacian artefacts early on Saturday morning.
The stolen objects include the golden helmet of Cotofanesti, which dates from around 450 BCE, and three Dacian royal bracelets dated to 50 BCE. They were part of an exhibition about the Dacian empire, which was situated in present-day Romania.
The items were on loan to the museum and belong to the National History Museum in the Romanian capital Bucharest.
“This is a dark day for the Drents Museum in Assen and the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest,” Drents Museum general director Harry Tupan said.
“In its 170-year existence, there has never been such a major incident.”
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis said Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof had assured him the authorities were taking “all necessary measures to identify the suspects and recover the artefacts”.
The stolen Dacian bracelets were among around a dozen recovered by authorities after they were initially looted from the ruins of Dacian fortresses in Romania and sold off on the black market in the 1990s.
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No one was injured in the explosion at the museum, which damaged the building, and no arrests have been made.
Police believe several people committed the robbery and they have decided to involve Interpol in their investigation.
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Officers found a burning car near Assen and suggested the suspects switched to another vehicle.
They have appealed for anyone with information on the suspects or the stolen artefacts to come forward.
