Thieves who stole Romanian treasures from a Dutch museum each sentenced to 47 months in prison
Source: AP
By MIKE CORDER
Updated 8:44 AM CDT, June 5, 2026
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Three men were each sentenced to 47 months in prison on Friday for the theft of an ornate Romanian gold helmet and bracelets in a raid on a Dutch museum.
The Northern Netherlands District Court said the three men, whose identities were not released in line with privacy rules, warranted a custodial sentence “because of the nature and gravity” of their crime.
The Cotofenesti helmet and three golden bracelets — some of Romania’s most revered national treasures from the Dacia civilization — were stolen from the Drents Museum in January 2025 while they were on loan for an exhibition.
Cornel Constantin Ilie, the interim director of Bucharest’s National History Museum, described them as “relics of our historical memory, as the legacy of a civilization that continues to define us.”
A stolen artefact from Romania, the 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet, recovered in Netherlands, is shown during a press conference in Assen, Netherlands, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Aleksandar Furtula, File)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/netherlands-romania-crown-gold-heist-museum-cotofenesti-4f0003bc7a924541e4dc7ab37c40e6f7
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