3,000-year-old gold treasure looted from Spanish Museum in just four minutes

A collection of nearly 3,000-year-old gold artifacts was stolen from a museum in Spain’s city of Villena early Thursday, with the thieves reportedly taking most of the historic treasure in just four minutes.

The robbery targeted the ‘Treasure of Villena’, one of Europe’s most significant Bronze Age gold collections. The collection contains more than 50 artifacts, including 29 bracelets, 11 bowls and three bottles, along with other archaeological objects.

A Villena city council spokesperson said the museum’s alarm was triggered at around 5:20 a.m., and the thieves left the building just four minutes later, at 5:24 a.m.

“The operation was very quick and professional,” the spokesperson said.

Villena Mayor Fulgencio Cerdán said the thieves had taken “most of the collection.”

“We are completely devastated,” Cerdán told reporters. “This is our heritage, our wealth.”

Not Just Gold

Most of the Treasure of Villena is made of gold, but the collection also includes artifacts made of silver, iron and amber. The objects date to around 1,000 BC.

Archaeologist José María Soler discovered the treasure in 1963 inside a buried vessel in the bed of a dried-up river near Villena.

Although its historical value is considered difficult to quantify, the mayor estimated that the gold alone could be worth around $2 million.

The collection was housed at a small museum in Alicante province.

Thieves May Have Entered Through a Window

Manuel Pineda, Spain’s government representative in Alicante province, said the thieves arrived near the museum in several vehicles and apparently entered the building through a window.

Authorities said the museum’s security system was functioning properly at the time of the robbery.

“All security measures were active,” the city council spokesperson said, adding that there had been no apparent security failure at the museum.

An alarm was also triggered at a sports centre in the city shortly before the museum robbery. Investigators are examining whether the incident was deliberately staged to distract security personnel.

Latest in a Series of Museum Thefts in Europe

The Villena robbery is the latest in a series of high-profile thefts targeting museums and cultural institutions across Europe.

Last October, thieves entered Paris’s Louvre Museum in broad daylight and stole jewellery reportedly worth around $102 million. The robbery took less than eight minutes. Several suspects were later arrested and charged, but apart from a crown abandoned during the escape, the stolen jewellery has yet to be recovered.

In another recent case, Italy’s Culture Ministry said four valuable works by Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina were stolen from a museum in Sicily.

Two days earlier, Italian police announced the recovery of artworks by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse that had been stolen from the Magnani-Rocca Foundation museum near Parma. The works were valued at more than $10 million and were reportedly taken in less than three minutes.

Last month, thieves also broke into the Lalique museum in France during the early hours and stole jewellery worth several million dollars.

Other recent thefts have targeted museums in France, including the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and the Adrien Dubouché National Museum in Limoges.

The Villena robbery has therefore renewed concerns over security at European museums, particularly after a significant part of a nearly 3,000-year-old archaeological collection disappeared in just four minutes.

Source: CBS News