The Criminal Police Office of the German state of Bavaria (LKA) reported Tuesday the theft of a treasure consisting of 483 Celtic gold coins valued at millions of euros from the Roman Celtic Museum in the town of Manching, in the south of the country.
As detailed by the LKA, the collector value of the gold treasure is estimated at several million euros, as detailed in statements to the German newspaper ‘Der Spiegel’.
The treasure, consisting of 450 coins, is the largest Celtic gold find of the 20th century. It was discovered in the summer of 1999 during excavations in the Manching area.
The theft reportedly took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning, according to German police. «It’s a classic, like you would imagine in a bad movie,» an officer told the police.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, unknown persons intentionally cut several fiber optic cables, disrupting the telephone and Internet connections of some 13,000 private and corporate customers in the vicinity of Manching.
Bavarian State Minister for Science and the Arts Marcus Blume has described the theft as «a catastrophe» and «an expression of great criminal energy».
«Everything possible must be done to solve the crime quickly and punish the perpetrators to the full extent of the law. One thing is clear: whoever steals art damages our culture,» he asserted on his Twitter account.
The German police have launched an investigation to clarify how the criminals were able to enter the museum and steal the precious piece, in addition to trying to find their whereabouts.
