ASSEN, Netherlands
A priceless historical golden helmet from Romania stolen last yr from a museum in the Netherlands has been recovered, Dutch authorities introduced Thursday.
Under the guard of closely armed, balaclava-clad police, prosecutors unveiled the 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet, one among Romania’s most revered nationwide treasures from the Dacia civilization, throughout a information convention in the jap Dutch metropolis of Assen.
“We are incredibly pleased,” Corien Fahner of the prosecution service instructed reporters. “It has been a roller-coaster. Especially for Romania, but also for employees of the Drents Museum.”
The helmet was on show on the small museum in January 2025, the last weekend of a six-month-long exhibition, when thieves broke in and grabbed it, together with three golden wristbands.
There had been fears the helmet might have been melted down as a result of its fame and dramatic studded look made it nearly unsellable.
Two of three lacking armbands had been additionally recovered as a part of a deal prosecutors reached with three males arrested for the heist shortly after it occurred. Their trial will start later in April.
Fahner mentioned the seek for the remaining armband would proceed.
The helmet didn’t return unscathed.
“The helmet is slightly dented, but there will be no permanent damage,” Drents Museum director Robert van Langh mentioned through the information convention. “The armbands are in perfect condition.”
Thieves used a home made firework bomb and sledgehammer to interrupt into the museum. Grainy safety video distributed by police after the raid appeared to point out three individuals opening a museum door with a massive crowbar, adopted by an explosion.
The theft put a pressure on relations between the Netherlands and Romania.
Romanian Justice Minister Radu Marinescu last yr known as the incident a “crime against our state” and mentioned recovering the artifacts “is an absolute priority.”
Associated Press writers Molly Quell and Mike Corder contributed from The Hague, Netherlands.