Thieves in Spain have raided the Treasure of Villena – a stunning collection of Bronze Age gold artifacts described as the most important prehistoric find in Europe – in the latest high-profile smash-and-grab heist on the continent.
The raid on Thursday morning, which targeted the 66 mostly gold objects in the town of Villena, lasted just minutes, officials said.
“The alarm at the Villena Museum went off around 5:20am [4:20am BST],” a spokesperson for the town council said, adding that the thieves had left the building by 5:24am. The operation was “super-fast and super-professional,” the spokesperson said.
“They’ve taken most of the treasure,” the mayor of Villena, Fulgencio Cerdán, told journalists, his voice breaking.
The collection has been held in a specially designated room in the Museum of Villena since May 2024.
Local media said the few items the thieves left behind included three silver vessels, a bracelet, and some of the ornamentation of the bastón del reyezuelo, the “Kingfisher staff,” a prehistoric ceremonial scepter.
Cerdán said: “We are absolutely devastated, 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.”
The treasure, discovered in 1963 by archaeologist José María Soler in a vessel sunk in a dried-out riverbed in Villena, included 29 bracelets, 11 bowls, three bottles, and other miscellaneous pieces dating back to around 1000BC. It quickly became the main attraction of a small architectural museum in the province of Alicante.
Since May 2024, the hoard has been on display in a specially designated room in the newly opened, municipally owned Villena Museum.
The unusual material of some of the items has long intrigued researchers. Though mainly gold, some pieces are also made of silver, iron, amber, and a dark leaden material covered in a ferrous-looking oxide. A recent study published in the journal Trabajos de Prehistoria claimed that these items were probably forged from rare meteoritic iron.
While the treasure’s value is incalculable, the gold alone is worth about €1.7m (£1.45m), according to the mayor.
The thieves arrived in several vehicles and apparently entered the museum through a window, according to the Spanish government’s deputy representative in Alicante, Manuel Pineda.
“All security systems were activated,” according to the Villena spokesperson, who insisted there had been “no failure” by the museum.
Shortly before the robbery, another alarm went off at the city’s sports centre, and authorities were now investigating whether that was a diversion created by the thieves, the spokesperson added.
Mauro Hernández, a professor of archaeology at the University of Alicante and an expert on the treasure, told broadcaster Cadena SER that the operation showed signs of prior planning. “They had it very well planned,” Hernández said. “They knew how to do it, how to act, and how to escape.”
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Last October, thieves broke into the Louvre Museum in Paris in broad daylight, escaping in less than eight minutes with jewellery worth €88m. There have since been a series of brazen raids in institutions across Europe.
Four works “of extraordinary value” by Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina were stolen from a museum in Sicily, Italy’s culture ministry said last Sunday.
Two days earlier, Italian police said they had recovered paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse worth more than $10.4m, which were stolen from the Magnani-Rocca Foundation Museum near Parma.
In a report published at the start of the week, the EU’s police agency Europol said that member states had detected a recent sA shift toward violent and forceful methods may suggest the involvement of new criminal networks that target specific cultural objects.
“Some thieves arrested in recent cases seem to coordinate their actions on a case-by-case basis, often recruited locally through social media and instant messaging, without having known each other beforehand,” the report stated. “This is different from the typical structure of criminal networks involved in trafficking cultural goods, which usually operate as a core group led by a single leader.”
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about the theft of the Bronze Age treasure from a Spanish museum written in a natural and clear tone
General Questions
Q What exactly was stolen from the museum in Spain
A A collection of Bronze Age gold artifacts often referred to as a treasure It included pieces like bracelets bowls and other ornate items made of gold dating back over 3000 years
Q Which museum was it and where is it located
A It was the Museo Arqueológico Nacional in Madrid Spain
Q When did the heist happen
A The theft took place in late August 2024
Q How did the thieves manage to steal it in just four minutes
A They were highly organized They cut through a metal bar to get into the display case grabbed the artifacts and were out the door before the silent alarm could even be properly assessed They knew exactly what they were after
Q Was anyone hurt during the robbery
A No The museum was closed at the time and the thieves were gone before any security guards could confront them
Details Investigation
Q How much is the stolen treasure worth
A The monetary value is estimated to be around 50000 to 60000 However its historical and archaeological value is priceless as its an irreplaceable piece of Spains Bronze Age heritage
Q What did the treasure look like
A It was a collection of small thin gold objects including bracelets and bowls They were part of a larger hoard known as the Tesoro de Villena discovered in 1963
Q Have the police found the thieves or the treasure
A As of now the investigation is ongoing The police have made arrests but the treasure has not been recovered and its believed the gold may have already been melted down for its raw material
Q Why would thieves melt down such important historical artifacts
