Geneva: Dozens of gold coins from the Roman period were stolen when a Swiss museum was robbed this week, police said Thursday, adding that the value of the bounty was still being calculated.

The Roman Museum in the western city of Lausanne was just about to close for the day on Tuesday when two men who had entered earlier after purchasing tickets jumped a security guard, Lausanne police said in a statement.

"The two individuals assaulted and overpowered the guard. They then broke into a secured display case and stole several gold coins that were displayed inside," before fleeing, the statement said.

The 64-year-old security guard had activated the museum's panic alarm, triggering a rapid response by law enforcement, police said.
But the perpetrators remained at large, the police added.

The guard, who was the only museum employee present at the time of the robbery, was "safe and sound", despite the circumstances, they said.

"At this stage, an inventory is underway to determine the exact number of items stolen and to identify an other missing items," the statement said.

Police stressed that the stolen objects had "archeological value", but said the monetary value had yet to be determined.

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