Dutch police have arrested three males in reference to the theft of historical Romanian artefacts from a museum within the north-east of the Netherlands, after an intensive four-day hunt.
The break-in on Saturday, throughout which the boys used explosives to get into the Drents Museum in Assen, has angered Romania and prompted Dutch police to scramble to trace down the culprits.
The treasures had been on mortgage from the Nationwide Historical past Museum of Romania in Bucharest and the incident has value its director his job.
“The suspects are held beneath strict situations and are being questioned about their position within the heist,” Dutch police mentioned, including “additional arrests usually are not being excluded.”
The Drents Museum mentioned the stolen artefacts haven’t but been recovered.
The thieves made off with 4 essential Romanian artefacts, together with the roughly 2,500-year-old golden Helmet of Cotofenesti, a bit from the Dacian civilisation.
Three gold bracelets courting from about 50BC had been additionally taken.
Bucharest’s overseas affairs minister, Emil Hurezeanu, mentioned the items had been of “particular cultural and symbolic significance” and their disappearance created nice anguish in Romania.
Dutch police launched a large-scale inquiry into the heist and earlier on Wednesday launched {a photograph} of one other suspect needed in reference to the case.
The Drents Museum welcomed the arrests, which had been made within the small metropolis of Heerhugowaard, about 30 miles (50km) north of Amsterdam.
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In a press release the museum mentioned: “The secure return of the artifacts can be a unbelievable subsequent step for all concerned. Not just for us, but in addition for the Romanian folks.”
The Dutch artwork detective Arthur Model advised AFP that as a result of quick time through which police tracked down the suspects “there’s a good likelihood that the items should be intact”.
Dutch museums and galleries have been focused by thieves up to now, together with in November 2024 when works by the artist Andy Warhol had been taken from a gallery in Oisterwijk, and in 2020 when a Van Gogh was stolen from a museum.
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