Dramatic moment gang blow up museum door & steal 2,500-year-old Golden Helmet in Ocean’s 11-style heist before vanishing
Dramatic moment gang blow up museum door & steal 2,500-year-old Golden Helmet in Ocean’s 11-style heist before vanishing
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THIS is the dramatic moment a thieves pulled off a Ocean's 11-style heist to steal a 2,500-year-old golden helmet and three priceless bracelets before vanishing into thin air. Shocking footage shows the gang blasting through the doors of the Drents Museum in Assen, a quaint Dutch city known more for its motorsports than international art crime.
![[Security camera image of suspects fleeing a museum after a heist.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/mega-heist-dramatic-moment-gang-966786577.png?strip=all&w=582)
At 3.45am on Saturday, the tranquil streets turned chaotic as an explosion tore through the museum’s entrance. Within minutes, the thieves had snatched the golden Helmet of Cotofenesti - an intricately decorated artefact dating back to 450 B.C. They also took three spiral Dacian bracelets linked to ancient Romanian royalty.
![[Nighttime security camera image of a museum after a break-in.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/mega-heist-dramatic-moment-gang-966786584.png?strip=all&w=589)
"This is a dark day for the Drents Museum in Assen and the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest. We are intensely shocked,” said the museum’s director, Harry Tupan. He added the institution had never seen "such a major incident" in its 170-year history.
![[Dacian gold snake-shaped bracelets.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dacian-gold-snake-shaped-bracelets-966784293.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The helmet, a national treasure of Romania, was discovered in 1927 by a child in the small Romanian village of Cotofenesti. It had once been used as a toy and even a water bowl for chickens before its historical value was realised. Its front is adorned with engraved mythological creatures, a male figure appearing to sacrifice a ram, and two large ayes above the brow line.
![[Getic prince's helmet, 4th century BC.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/getic-helmet-belonging-prince-4th-966783174.jpg?strip=all&w=800)
