Thieves who stole Romanian treasures from a Dutch museum each sentenced to 47 months in prison

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.”

The helmet and two of the bracelets were found earlier this year after prosecutors agreed a deal with two of the thieves who helped facilitate the recovery in return for a lower sentencing demand by prosecutors. The third bracelet is still missing.

“The art treasures are part of Romania’s past and are of great importance to current and future generations,” a written summary of the court verdict said.

The court said the treasures were insured for 5.7 million euros ($6.6 million), but added “that is just a number, whereas the importance and value of objects like these cannot be expressed in money. They are, in a literal sense, priceless.” The recovered artifacts have been returned to Romania.

Thieves used a homemade firework bomb and sledgehammer to break into the museum. Security video distributed by police after the raid appeared to show three people opening a museum door with a large crowbar, followed by an explosion.

While only two of the three suspects helped prosecutors get back the artifacts, judges gave all three reduced sentences, saying that they all should “profit from the return of the treasures.”