(MENAFN) French authorities have formally charged a Chinese national in connection with the theft of gold worth about $1.6 million from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris last month, according to reports citing the prosecutor’s office.

The theft, discovered by museum workers on the morning of September 16, involved nearly 6 kilograms (13 pounds) of gold nuggets that were part of a long-standing exhibit.

Prosecutors said the stolen pieces included rare Bolivian nuggets donated to the Academy of Sciences in the 1700s, items from Russia’s Ural Mountains gifted by Tsar Nicholas I in 1833, and nuggets originating from California’s gold rush era. Among them was an exceptionally large Australian nugget weighing over 5 kilograms (11 pounds), discovered in 1990.

Investigators found evidence of a break-in, including two doors that had been cut open with an angle grinder — the openings only slightly larger than a sheet of A4 paper. Security cameras recorded a petite woman dressed entirely in black slipping through one of the holes just after 1 a.m.

Authorities said the suspect used a blowtorch to smash the glass case housing the gold before leaving the museum around 4 a.m. She reportedly wore a wide-brimmed hat with a face-covering veil “similar to a beekeeper’s net” and moved with the agility of a circus performer.

Tools recovered at the site included saws, a screwdriver, and gas canisters.

Police traced her movements through phone data, determining she fled France later that same day en route to China. She was eventually apprehended at Barcelona Airport, where officers discovered nearly 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of melted gold in her possession.

The incident comes amid a recent surge in high-profile museum heists across Europe. Earlier this month, jewelry belonging to Napoleon’s family — valued at roughly $102 million — was stolen from the Louvre. A Picasso painting worth $650,000 vanished while being transported to Spain, and in September, a 3,000-year-old gold bracelet was taken from Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. Earlier this year, four ancient art pieces, including a 2,500-year-old gold helmet, were also stolen from the Drents Museum in the Netherlands.

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