Thieves on Thursday raided the "Treasure of Villena" – one of the greatest Bronze Age gold collections – in the latest high-profile heist on a European museum, officials said.
A spokesperson for the council in the Spanish town of Villena said it was not immediately known how many of the 50-plus mainly gold objects in the collection were taken as police were still making an inventory.
The raid lasted just minutes. "The alarm at the Villena Museum went off around 5:20 a.m.," said the spokesperson, adding that by 5:24 a.m. the thieves had already left the building.
The operation was "super-fast and super-professional," the spokesperson said.
The 29 bracelets, 11 bowls, three bottles and other miscellaneous pieces in the "Treasure of Villena" are kept in a small museum in the Alicante province town.
