Thieves Blow Door Off Museum, Grab Loot

Museum heists in the movies are often delicate, white-glove affairs. This was not the case Saturday in the Netherlands, where the burglars blew the door off a museum with explosives, then ran in and grabbed stuff, say police in Assen. All remain at large with their loot after the theft at the Drents Museum, reports the BBC. The thieves made away with a 2,400-year-old golden helmet and three golden bracelets, all of which are linked to Romanian royalty, per the Washington Post.

The museum had been hosting an exhibit of ancient Romanian artifacts, with the priceless Helmet of Cotofenesti its central piece. (See this museum video.) A museum release notes that the helmet was discovered by a child in a field in 1927, then "initially used as a toy and then as a water container for poultry." Police say they found a burning vehicle about a half-hour after the heist. "A possible scenario is that the suspects switched to another vehicle in the vicinity of the fire," say Dutch police. (More Netherlands stories.)