After breaking into a museum in the Netherlands with explosives, thieves took four antique artefacts, including a gold helmet that is said to be around 2,500 years old.
According to Dutch police, who reported an explosion at 3:45 a.m. local time, the bold theft occurred at the Drents Museum in Assen early on Saturday morning.
The suspects are seen opening an outside door in police-released CCTV footage before a bomb shoots smoke and sparks into the air. The Helmet of Cotofenesti, a historically significant artefact on loan from the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest, and three gold bracelets, dating from approximately 50 BC, were taken by the robbers.
The artefacts belonged to an exhibition on the Dacians, a prehistoric people who ruled over a large portion of modern-day Romania before the Romans overran them. “Dacia: Empire of Gold and Silver,” which has been on display since July, included artefacts that were borrowed from Romanian organisations.
The Helmet of Cotofenesti, found in a Romanian village over a century ago, was referred to as a “masterpiece” in a news release posted on the Drents Museum’s website. In addition to legendary images, its design includes a pair of eyeballs above the wearer’s that were believed to ward off opponents during combat and provide protection from the “evil eye.”
The Drents Museum was closed over the weekend because of the robbery, but the show was scheduled to end on Sunday. The museum noted that although there were no reported injuries, the explosion damaged its property.
Dutch police said they had received over 50 tip-offs as of Sunday and are collaborating with the international police agency Interpol. A grey automobile that was taken earlier this week from the nearby city of Alkmaar and found on fire about four miles from the crime scene immediately after the overnight heist is the subject of an ongoing investigation.
