by - In Germany, scrap gold worth over a million dollars was stolen, the Bavarian State Police said.
- The 483 coins were stolen when unknown thieves broke into the Celtic Roman Museum in Manching.
- Bavaria’s Minister for Science and Art, Markus Blume, spoke of a “disaster”.
According to the Bavarian State Police, antique gold worth over a million dollars was stolen from a museum in Germany.
483 coins were stolen on Thursday night when unknown thieves broke into the Celtic Roman Museum in Manching.
The coins from the year 100 BC BC were excavated in Manching, Germany in 1999 and are believed to be the largest discovery of Celtic gold coins found in the 20th century.
During the night of Tuesday, fiber optic cables were severed in a Deutsche Telekom distribution center, as stated at a press conference by the State Criminal Police Office and the public prosecutor’s office. This resulted in 13,000 homes losing internet and phone connections.
This disturbance also turned off the alarm system at the nearby Celtic Roman Museum. Nine minutes after the wires were cut, an escape door at the museum was forced open and the coins stolen, BR24 reported in a press conference report.
According to BR24, the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office is now investigating how “strangers” managed to gain access to the regional hub and cut fiber optic cables on the night the museum was hit.
Picture taken on November 23, 2022 shows a broken window at the Celtic and Roman Museum in Manching, southern Germany, from which a hoard of Celtic coins was stolen.
CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images
Write on TwitterBavaria’s Science and Art Minister Markus Blume described the raid as a “disaster” and added: “Those who steal art damage our culture.”
In an interview with BR, Blume said: “It is clear that you cannot simply march into a museum and take this treasure with you.”
“It is highly secured and there is a suspicion that we are dealing more with an organized crime case,” the minister added, per The Jerusalem Post.
Rupert Gebhard, head of the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Munich, also warned that the loot could likely be melted down and sold for their gold value of just $260,000, as the coins are difficult to sell in the public market, according to The Jerusalem Post.
