Four ancient gold artifacts were stolen from a Dutch museum in an overnight raid in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The thieves used explosives to break into their museum in Assen, which was hosting an exhibition of priceless Romanian jewelry made of gold and silver.
They were left with three Dacian spiral bracelets and the central piece of the exhibition – the strikingly decorated Cotofenesti helmet, which was made almost 2,500 years ago.
The Romanian Ministry of Culture promised to take all possible steps to return the stolen objects, which were on loan from Bucharest to the Dutch museum.
Drents Museum director Harry Tupan said staff were “intensely shocked” by the break-in, which he said was the biggest incident in its 170-year history.
Police were called to the scene after reports of an explosion at 03:45 local time (04:45 GMT) on Saturday.
Officers conducted a forensic investigation and reviewed CCTV footage during the day.
Police are also investigating a burning vehicle found on a nearby road that they suspect may be connected to the burglary.
“It is a possible scenario that the suspects switched to another vehicle near the fire,” the Dutch police said in a statement.
No arrests have been made, but authorities suspect multiple individuals are involved. Police have called in the global police agency Interpol to help with the investigation.
A statement from the museum said four “archaeological masterpieces” were taken, including the Cotofenesti helmet, dating from around 450 BC, and three ancient royal bracelets.
All four stolen items are of enormous cultural importance to Romania, with the Cotofenesti helmet considered a national treasure.
In the late 1990s, 24 bracelets from the same era were dug up by treasure hunters and sold abroad.
The Romanian state has worked for years to get them back from collectors in Austria, Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States.
