Dutch police have arrested three males in reference to a theft of 4 historical golden objects from the Drents Museum within the Netherlands over the weekend.
The Saturday morning raid of treasures belonging to the misplaced Dacian civilisation, together with the €4.3 million golden helmet of Coțofenești, had sparked shock and political tensions between the Netherlands and Romania.
Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, the director of the Romanian Nationwide Historical past Museum in Bucharest, which loaned out 670 objects for the present, has misplaced his job. Bucharest’s international affairs minister, Emil Hurezeanu instructed worldwide press the items had been of “particular cultural and symbolic significance”, and questions have been raised in Romania in regards to the degree of safety in place on the present.
Dutch police are thought to have moved rapidly to arrest three suspects within the city of Heerhugowaard, north of Amsterdam, as a result of fears that they may soften the objects—which may very well be price greater than €80,000 in gold worth alone. Nonetheless the helmet and three golden bracelets haven’t but been recovered.
Police have appealed for assist in monitoring them down, alongside one other particular person of curiosity who was seen shopping for a hammer at a DIY retailer in Assen. The thieves apparently blew up a aspect door on the museum in Assen earlier than smashing a case containing the objects with a hammer—which was later found in a ditch outdoors the museum.
“We’re very proud of the hopeful information in regards to the arrests in North Holland,” stated the Drents Museum in an announcement on Wednesday night. “We’ve got nice respect for the investigative companies which have dealt with this appalling case so properly… The restoration of the stolen artwork objects intact can be a incredible subsequent step for all concerned, not just for us, however particularly for the Romanian individuals.”
The objects, considered price virtually €6 million in accordance with their insurance coverage worth, have been described as “priceless” treasures from the misplaced Dacian civilisation from 450BC.
The significance of the golden helmet to Romania was likened by the cultural journalist Claudia Marcu to the worth ascribed to Rembrandt’s The Evening Watch within the Netherlands. The item was found, in accordance with archaological knowledgeable Hendrik Spiering, by taking part in youngsters after a small landslide. Spiering explains it was used as a sheep’s watering trough earlier than its significance was realised.
The artwork knowledgeable Bianca Frölich, from Frölich Kunst & Antiek, instructed a Dutch tv showthat the theft was a form of “cultural terrorism”.
“The Dacians didn’t depart any written texts behind—solely the Greeks and the Romans wrote about them,” she stated. “The one factor we learn about this civilisation are these objects.”
