Romanian prehistoric gold treasures stolen from Dutch museum

Romanian artefacts, including a 2,500-year-old gold helmet, were stolen from the Drents Museum in the Netherlands early on Saturday, the museum said.

The Geto-Dacian artefacts belonged to the National History Museum in capital Bucharest and were on loan together with pieces from other Romanian museums as part of a touring exhibition.

Featuring 673 exhibits in all, the display was set to close on Sunday.

"This is a dark day for the Drents Museum in Assen and the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest," Drents General Director Harry Tupan said in a statement.

"In its 170-year existence, there has never been such a major incident."

Local police believed several people committed the robbery after using explosives to blast open a door, the statement said, adding the authorities would involve Interpol in the investigation.

Romania's outgoing President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof had assured him authorities were taking "all necessary measures to identify the suspects and recover the artefacts".

Dacian themes have been appropriated over the decades by ultranationalist parties in Romania.

The stolen objects included the golden helmet of Cotofanesti, dating from around 450 BCE, and three Dacian royal bracelets dated 50 BCE.

Dacian bracelets were initially looted during the early 1990s from the ruins of Dacian fortresses in Romania and auctioned off on the black market. So far authorities have recovered only around a dozen of them.