A 2,500-year-old golden helmet stolen in a brazen heist last year has finally been recovered. The priceless Cotofenesti helmet was swiped in January 2025 from the Drents Museum in the Netherlands by thieves who used firework bombs to gain entrance into the building. The priceless artifact, one of Romania’s most revered national treasures, has now been confirmed recovered at a Thursday press conference in the Dutch city of Assen. Art detective Arthur Brand said the recovery of the 2,500-year-old helmert is the “best news we could have got.” He added: “We were pretty sure it had not been melted down because there were only four days between the robbery and the arrests.” Three people are currently on trial for carrying out the raid at the museum and taking the ancient artifacts. Police are said to have tried to convince the suspects to reveal where they stash the helmet in exchange for a more lenient punishment. The helmet and golden bracelets taken during the raid were featured in an exhibition on the Dacians, a society that lived in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania thousands of years ago, before the Romans conquered them.
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