Stolen Treasure back home
The Dacian helmet of Coţofeneşti and two golden bracelets stolen in January last year from the Drents Museum in the Netherlands have been recovered and returned to Romania
Corina Cristea, 03.04.2026, 14:00
After one year and two months of searches and investigations, the famous golden Dacian helmet and two out of the three golden bracelets stolen from the Drents Museum in the Netherlands were recovered and returned to Romania on Thursday.
The artefacts have been taken over by the representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office in Romania from their Dutch counterparts in the Old Council Hall of the Museum in Assen heavily guarded by local police forces.
”The Cotofenesti helmet and two Dacian gold bracelets have been returned and we are delighted to be able to announce this” Corien Fahner, the Chief Public Prosecutor said during the event.
Present at the press conference, the museum director, Robert van Langh, showed satisfaction that the recovered artefacts are returned where they belong and thanked the Dutch and the Romanian police. The helmet has minor damage and could be completely restored to its initial form, while the bracelets are in perfect condition.
The 2500-years-old artefacts had been on loan from Romania’s National History Museum for a temporary exhibition entitled “Dacia – Empire of Gold and Silver”, and a couple of days before the end of the exhibition, three men used explosives to break into the museum and left with four Romanian artefacts within minutes.
Several people were arrested in connection with the heist but the investigation seemed to yield no results. So, in September, Romania was paid 5.7 million Euros in compensation for the stolen artefacts.
Three Dutch people with ages between 21 and 36 are under arrest in connection to the theft and their trial is to commence on April 14th.
Not many details have been made public but it is known the Dutch prosecutors held talks with the suspects’ layers and one condition was the return of the stolen artefacts. The Dutch prosecutors refused to offer any information on the recovery process or any possible concessions in return for the stolen treasure.
In Bucharest, Romania’s Foreign Minister, Oana Toiu said that in order to solve the case Romania and the Netherlands joined their efforts under the EUROJUST umbrella, by forming a Common Investigation Team made up of prosecutors, judges and policemen from both countries. Culture Minister, Demeter Andras, has voiced satisfaction after the recovery of the artefacts adding the sum to be returned to the Netherlands will be set after the end of the restoration process. In turn, Romania’s President, Nicusor Dan said that authorities in Bucharest have the responsibility of assuming a more careful management of the objects of exceptionally historic and cultural importance for the Romanian heritage through stricter rules applied more effectively.
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