Three arrested after ancient Romanian artefacts stolen from Dutch museum

Dutch police have arrested three men in connection with the robbery of ancient Romanian artefacts from a museum in the north-east of the Netherlands, after an intensive four-day hunt.

The break-in on Saturday, during which the men used explosives to get into the Drents Museum in Assen, has angered Romania and prompted Dutch police to scramble to track down the culprits.

The treasures were on loan from the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest and the incident has cost its director his job.

“The suspects are held under strict conditions and are being questioned about their role in the heist,” Dutch police said, adding “further arrests are not being excluded.”

The Drents Museum said the stolen artefacts have not yet been recovered.

The thieves made off with four important Romanian artefacts, including the approximately 2,500-year-old golden Helmet of Cotofenesti, a piece from the Dacian civilisation.

Three gold bracelets dating from about 50BC were also taken.

Bucharest’s foreign affairs minister, Emil Hurezeanu, said the pieces were of “special cultural and symbolic importance” and their disappearance created great anguish in Romania.

Dutch police launched a large-scale inquiry into the heist and earlier on Wednesday released a photograph of another suspect wanted in connection with the case.

The Drents Museum welcomed the arrests, which were made in the small city of Heerhugowaard, about 30 miles (50km) north of Amsterdam.

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In a statement the museum said: “The safe return of the artifacts would be a fantastic next step for all involved. Not only for us, but also for the Romanian people.”

The Dutch art detective Arthur Brand told AFP that due to the short time in which police tracked down the suspects “there is a good chance that the pieces may still be intact”.

Dutch museums and galleries have been targeted by thieves in the past, including in November 2024 when works by the artist Andy Warhol were taken from a gallery in Oisterwijk, and in 2020 when a Van Gogh was stolen from a museum.