2,500-year-old helmet from Romania stolen from Dutch museum recovered

Dutch prosecutors announced Thursday that a 2,500-year-old golden helmet and two bracelets stolen from a museum last year have been recovered.

The “Golden Helmet of Cotofenesti” and the bracelets were unearthed in Romania and are part of the collection of the National History Museum in Bucharest. The four items were on loan at the Drents Museum in the Netherlands and were stolen on the night of Jan. 24-25, 2025, the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service said in a release.

Security footage showed the use of explosives and a crowbar to open a large door at the museum, letting the suspects gain access to the helmet and bracelets.

The bracelets are a few centuries younger than the helmet, dating to 50 B.C., according to Reuters.

No one was injured during the alleged heist.

The recovered items were returned to Romanian prosecutors on Thursday. North Netherlands Public Prosecutor’s Office Chief Prosecutor Corein Fahner said, “We are incredibly pleased with the return of these exceptional art treasures. It has been a rollercoaster ride. Particularly for Romania, but also for staff at the Drents Museum. Of course, we will continue to search for the Dacian bracelet that is still missing.”

The Cotofenesti helmet suffered minute damage that will be fixed with restoration work, while the two bracelets are in perfect condition, Drents Museum Director Robert van Langh said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Three suspects accused of committing the heist, none of whom have been publicly identified, were arrested just days after the incident, but had not revealed to authorities where the missing items were until recently, according to The New York Times.

Dutch prosecutors said the helmet and two bracelets were given to them on Wednesday “following intervention by the defense.” The three suspects are due to stand trial starting on April 14.

On social media, Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Toiu Oana said that “this has always been about the invaluable significance of the treasure for our identity, for universal heritage, but also about the trust in the international exhibition circuit. … They will soon be exhibited again to the general public at home, in Romania, where we look forward to celebrating their recovery.”