2,500-year-old priceless artifact recovered one year after museum heist
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Romania’s priceless 2,500-year-old cultural icon, stolen in an art museum robbery last year, has been recovered.
The Cotofenesti helmet was found more than a year after it was taken in January 2025 and was unveiled under armed guard this week at the Drents Museum in Assen, in the north-east of the Netherlands.
When the helmet was purchased, it was loaned to the museum.
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“We are incredibly pleased,” Chief Corien Fahner of the North Holland Public Prosecution Office said at a press conference announcing the recovered piece. “This has been a roller-coaster, especially for Romania, but also for the staff of the Drents Museum.”
Last year three men were arrested shortly after they allegedly broke into the museum using a homemade firework bomb and a sledgehammer and escaped with a helmet, sparking fears that their near-unsellable fame would prompt them to go into meltdown.
A police officer stands next to a 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet from Romania at a press conference in Assen, Netherlands, on Thursday. The helmet was seized after being stolen. (Aleksandar Furtula/AP Photo)
Grainy security video released by police after the burglary shows the thieves opening the door with a large crowbar, then causing an explosion.
Romanian Justice Minister Radu Marinescu called the incident “a crime against our state”, adding that recovering the treasures was “an absolute priority”.
Two of the three gold bracelets stolen during the robbery were also seized. Authorities are still searching for the third bracelet, Fahner said.
A 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet, an artifact stolen from Romania, was found in the Netherlands and was shown at a press conference in Assen, Netherlands, on Thursday. (Aleksandar Furtula/AP Photo)
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The return of the parts resulted from an agreement with the men.
The works were on display at the museum last weekend as part of a six-month exhibition when they were stolen.
Police officers stand next to a 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet found in the Netherlands. (Aleksandar Furtula/AP Photo)
“The helmet is a little dented, but there will be no permanent damage,” Drents Museum Director Robert van Langh said at the press conference. “The armbands are in excellent condition.”
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The trial of the suspects is expected to begin later this month.
