Artifacts from the Bronze Age, including nearly ten kilograms of gold, were stolen from the Villena Museum in Spain during a swift and professional heist. The robbery occurred around 5:20 a.m. local time on Thursday, with the thieves taking just four minutes to enter the museum and escape before law enforcement arrived.
A diversionary tactic was employed by the thieves, as alarms at a local sports center went off around 5:15 a.m., drawing police away from the museum. Once the museum's own alarms were triggered, the perpetrators executed their plan.
According to the Mayor of Villena, Fulgencio Cerdán, "a large part of the treasure" was taken, specifically all the gold. The collection, known as the Treasure of Villena, is primarily composed of gold items but also includes pieces of silver, iron, and amber. It consists of over 60 objects dating back to approximately 1000 BC, including bracelets, bowls, and bottles.
The collection was discovered in 1963 by archaeologist Jose María Soler in a dried-out riverbed in Villena. Mayor Cerdán described the town as "devastated," emphasizing the historical and cultural significance of the stolen artifacts, which represent a vital part of the region's heritage.
A spokesman for the Villena town council stated that there was no failure on the part of the museum, and all security systems were activated during the incident. This incident follows a series of museum thefts in Europe over the past year, including a daylight jewelry theft from the Louvre in Paris and the recent theft of Renaissance artworks from a museum in Sicily.