Thieves steal Treasure of Villena in four-minute Spanish museum heist

Thieves raided the Treasure of Villena, a Bronze Age gold collection described as the most important prehistoric trove in Europe, in a heist that lasted four minutes. The mayor, Fulgencio Cerdán, told journalists his voice was breaking: "They've taken most of the treasure." The alarm at the Villena Museum sounded at 5:20 a.m., and by 5:24 a.m. the intruders had fled, according to a town council spokesperson.

The operation was "super-fast and super-professional," the spokesperson said. Shortly before the museum alarm, at 5:16 a.m., an alarm at the municipal sports centre on the outskirts of town drew security forces away, a diversion authorities are now investigating. The thieves entered through a side window after failing at the main door, according to Manuel Pineda, the Spanish government's deputy representative in Alicante.

"All security systems were activated," the Villena spokesperson insisted, adding there had been "no failure" by the museum. The collection, discovered in 1963 by archaeologist José María Soler in a dried-out riverbed, comprises 29 bracelets, 11 bowls, three bottles and other pieces dating to about 1000 BC. It is mainly gold, but includes silver, iron, amber and a dark leaden material.

Cerdán said: "We are absolutely devastated, I'm even trembling. The truth is that for those of us from Villena, this destroys us. It's part of our heritage, of our wealth." Local media reported that the few items left behind included three silver vessels, a bracelet and part of the ornamentation of the bastón del reyezuelo, the "Kingfisher staff," a prehistoric ceremonial scepter. Mauro Hernández, a professor of archaeology at the University of Alicante and an expert on the treasure, told Cadena SER that the operation showed signs of prior planning.

"They had it very well planned," Hernández said. "They knew how to do it, how to act and how to escape." Last October, thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris and escaped in less than eight minutes with jewellery worth €88m. Last week, four works by Antonello da Messina were stolen from a museum in Sicily.

Europol reported this week that member states had detected a shift "towards violent and forceful methods" by new criminal networks focused on cultural artefacts. The Civil Guard and Judicial Police are investigating the Villena theft, according to sources from the Alicante municipality cited by Efe. The theft follows a series of brazen raids on European museums.