Villena Treasure stolen in under four minutes, major Bronze Age find in Europe

The thieves diverted security forces with a false alarm on the outskirts, then entered the museum and stole 59 prehistoric artefacts in under four minutes. The Villena Treasure, one of the most valuable collections of metalwork from the Bronze Age in Europe, was stolen in the early hours of this morning from MUVI, the museum in this town in Alicante. Dated to around 1000 BC, the hoard consists mainly of gold pieces. In barely four minutes, burglars slipped past the security in the small hours of the Villena Museum (MUVI) and made off with part of its star attraction: the Villena Treasure, a collection of gold, silver, iron and amber objects from the Bronze Age. They also stole three crowns of the Virgin and Child that were kept in the museum. The Local Police and Civil Guard are investigating the theft, which, according to initial indications, appears to have been carried out in a coordinated, carefully planned way by professionals. The treasure is valued at more than 1.5 million euros. All the evidence points to a professional, perfectly organised gang The theft began with a diversionary manoeuvre. At 5:16, the alarm at the municipal sports centre on the outskirts of Villena forced law-enforcement officers to head there. Four minutes later, at 5:20, the alarms at MUVI went off. By the time officers arrived, at 5:24, the burglars had already fled, said the mayor of Villena, Fulgencio Cerdán. At first they tried to get in through the main door, but when that proved impossible they opted for the side windows, despite their security systems and reinforced glass. The way they operated leads investigators to believe this was not an improvised robbery: everything points to a professional, perfectly organised gang. Cerdán, deeply shaken by the theft, said that only three silver vessels, a bracelet and part of the staff decorations remain, along with one of the four crowns, which "fell" from the thieves' hands. The discovery of the treasure Archaeologist José María Soler and his team discovered the Villena Treasure in December 1963, hidden inside a pot buried in the bed of a dry riverbed in the municipality. Villena, with around 35,000 inhabitants, is located in the Alt Vinalopó region, in the northern interior of Alicante province. The story of the discovery began a few months earlier. In October 1963 a bracelet appeared in the Morrón mountains, but it was not initially identified as a piece of jewellery. The bracelet turned up among materials at a building site in Ferriz Street, but was at first mistaken for a component from a lorry engine. The piece ended up in the hands of jeweller Carlos Miguel Esquembre, who consulted archaeologist José María Soler. Its identification made it possible to begin excavations. On 1 December the find was made: 59 items of gold, silver, iron and amber weighing almost ten kilos, which would go on to become one of the great Bronze Age discoveries across Europe.