Villena Museum Loses Most Of Its Bronze Age Gold In Four-Minute Heist

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Thieves stole an estimated €1.7 million ( $1.98 million ) worth of gold artifacts from the Treasure of Villena, one of Europe's most significant Bronze Age collections, during a four-minute heist at Spain's Villena Museum on Thursday morning, The Guardian reported.

The stolen objects are part of a collection of 66 prehistoric artifacts, including 29 bracelets, 11 bowls, and three bottles, dating back to 1000 BCE. According to local media, the thieves left behind a few items, such as three silver vessels, a bracelet, and some ornamentation from the“Kingfisher staff,” a ceremonial scepter.

Fulgencio Cerdán, the mayor of Villena, expressed his devastation, stating that the thieves took“most of the treasure.” He added,“I'm even trembling. The truth is that for those of us from Villena, this destroys us. It's part of our heritage, of our wealth.”

A spokesperson for the Villena council confirmed that the museum's alarm activated around 5:20 a.m., and the thieves had already left the building by 5:24 a.m., describing the incident as“super-fast and super-professional.” The deputy representative of the Spanish government in Alicante, Manuel Pineda, said the perpetrators arrived in multiple vehicles and gained entry through a window. However, the Villena spokesperson maintained that“all security systems were activated” and that the museum experienced“no failure” in its security.

The robbery appeared to be meticulously planned. An alarm at the city's sports center had reportedly sounded suspiciously before the museum's alarm, which authorities are investigating. Mauro Hernández, an expert on the treasure and a professor of archaeology at the University of Alicante, told broadcaster Cadena SER,“They had it very well planned. They knew how to do it, how to act and how to escape.” This theft follows a report published earlier this week by Europol, which warned that European museums are increasingly targeted by robbers seeking precious metals and jewelry due to their market value and ease of being melted down.

We previously reported:

Four Renaissance masterpieces by Antonello da Messina were stolen from the Regional Museum of Messina in Sicily on Saturday night, local officials confirmed.

Four works by Renaissance master Antonello da Messina, including three panels from his Polittico di San Gregorio altarpiece, were stolen from a Sicily museum.

Source: ARTnews

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