Thieves use explosives to steal gold “masterpieces” from the Dutch Museum

Four ancient gold artefacts were stolen from a Dutch museum in an overnight raid in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The thieves used explosives to blow their way into the Drents Museum in Assen, which was hosting an exhibition of priceless Roman jewelery made of gold and silver.

They left with three Dacian spiral bracelets and the centerpiece of the exhibition – the stunningly decorated Kotovinisti helmet, made nearly 2,500 years ago.

The Romanian Ministry of Culture promised to take all possible steps to recover the stolen pieces that were loaned to the Dutch Museum from Bucharest.

Harry Toppin, director of the Drents Museum, said that staff were “extremely shocked” by the robbery, which he described as the largest incident in the museum’s 170-year history.

Police were called to the scene after reports of an explosion at 03:45 local time (04:45 GMT) on Saturday.

Officers conducted forensic investigations and reviewed CCTV footage throughout the day.

Police are also investigating a burned-out car found on a nearby road, which they suspect may be linked to the burglary.

“The likely scenario is that the suspects moved to another car near the scene of the fire,” a Dutch police statement said.

No arrests have been made, but authorities suspect several people were involved. Police called in the global police agency Interpol to assist in the investigation.

A statement from the museum said four “archaeological masterpieces” were seized, including the Kotovinisti helmet, dating from around 450 BC, and three ancient Dacian royal bracelets.

All four stolen items are of great cultural importance to Romania, where the Cotovinisti helmet is considered a national treasure.

In the late 1990s, treasure hunters unearthed 24 bracelets from the same era and sold them abroad.

The Romanian state worked for years to recover it from collectors in Austria, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.