---
title: "Bronze Age gold treasure stolen in pre-dawn Spanish museum heist "
url: https://radiomoldova.md/p/83964/bronze-age-gold-treasure-stolen-in-pre-dawn-spanish-museum-heist
published: 2026-08-28T08:04:28Z
language: en
author: "Redacția  TRM"
section: "International"
source: radiomoldova.md
---

# Bronze Age gold treasure stolen in pre-dawn Spanish museum heist 

> Thieves broke into the Archaeological Museum of Villena in eastern Spain before dawn on Thursday, stealing most of a 3,000-year-old Bronze Age gold treasure valued at €1.7 million.

![](https://storage.radiomoldova.md/images/48a9f252-a646-4d9e-b353-fa5a39d4bbd5.jpg)

Thieves broke into the Archaeological Museum of Villena in eastern Spain before dawn on Thursday, stealing most of a 3,000-year-old Bronze Age gold treasure valued at €1.7 million.

The suspects bypassed security after an alarm triggered at a nearby municipal sports complex at 05:16 local time, diverting police before the museum alarm sounded four minutes later. The assailants forced open a side window, grabbed the gold artifacts, and fled before law enforcement units reached the scene.

The stolen haul forms the bulk of the famous Treasure of Villena, a prehistoric cache of approximately 50 gold, silver, iron, and amber items unearthed in 1963. Three silver vessels, a bracelet, sceptre pieces, and a fourth crown from the Virgin of the Virtudes—dropped by the thieves during their escape—remained inside the museum.

*"The heist happened very quickly, in just a few minutes, taking away a core part of our heritage,"* Villena Mayor Fulgencio Cerdán said. Spain's Civil Guard is reviewing surveillance footage of several suspects and vehicles, while investigating whether the sports complex alarm was an intentional diversion.

Translation by **Iurie Tataru**

![](https://storage.radiomoldova.md/images/5fd913db-ce46-4c0a-be04-1243fd27e499.jpg)