The video is grainy but ominous: three hooded figures, clambering over one another to tug at a heavy access door of the Drents Museum — an art and history museum in Assen, the Netherlands — followed by an explosion and a flurry of sparks in the early hours of Saturday.
By daybreak, it had become clear that this was no amateur burglary. The Dutch police stated that the explosion was part of an elaborate effort to break into the acclaimed museum and steal some of its treasures, including a prized helmet made of gold on loan from Romania.
Harry Tupan, the director of the Drents Museum, expressed his dismay in a statement, saying, “This is a dark day for the Drents Museum in Assen and the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest. We are intensely shocked by the events last night at the museum. In its 170-year existence, there has never been such a major incident.”
Among the stolen artifacts were three golden bracelets and the golden helmet of Cotofenesti, an elaborately decorated, solid-gold headpiece from the fifth century B.C. The helmet, which weighs a little over two pounds, features large studs across the top of the head.
The helmet dates back to the ancient Dacians, who inhabited parts of the Balkan region. It is well known in Romania and is believed to have been used in ceremonies, depicting various scenes, including someone sacrificing a lamb.
The helmet and several other golden artifacts were part of a traveling exhibition from the National History Museum of Romania and had been on display at the Drents Museum since July 2024.
While authorities have not attached a monetary figure to the stolen goods, Romanian officials have described their value as “incalculable” to Romania’s culture.
Neither representatives from the National History Museum nor officials from the Romanian Ministry of Culture could be reached for comment on Sunday.
The Dutch police are investigating a possible connection between the break-in and a nearby car fire. They indicated that the thieves most likely set one car ablaze before escaping in another.
A similar art theft occurred in November at MPV Gallery in Amsterdam, where thieves used a bomb to gain entry and stole two prints by the American artist Andy Warhol.