A $4.3 Million Smash-and-Grab: A Series of Museum Heists Continue

Just three days earlier, on August 27, a nearly identical scene played out in the medieval Spanish town of Villena when thieves broke into a recently opened museum housing the Treasure of Villena. They entered through a window and made off with the Bronze Age collection in less than four minutes. Discovered in 1963 by archeologist José María Soler García, the hoard ranks among the most significant caches of gold objects from its era. The vast majority of its 29 bracelets, 11 bowls, three bottles, and other miscellaneous items were all swiped. Only three silver vessels, a bracelet, and some ornamentation of a prehistoric ceremonial scepter were left behind. The gold alone is valued at about £1.7 million, although its historical worth is nearly invaluable.

Unfortunately, these are not the summer’s only cases. Four Renaissance works by Antonello da Messina likewise disappeared from a Sicilian museum on August 23. In July, burglars took millions of dollars in jewelry from a museum devoted to the French luxury glassmaker Lalique. This is all on top of other higher-profile heists from the past year, like the one at the Louvre last fall.

A report published by Europol this August validated that there has been a significant uptick in museum burglaries, many of which have used more violent or forceful tactics than in years past. “Changing Tactics, Changing Targets: The Evolving Nature of Museum Heists” suggests that more thieves are coordinating their efforts on an ad hoc basis rather than coalescing around a single leader and focusing solely on museum property theft. Through social media and other platforms, lower-level executors are recruited to carry out a single break-in.

Once a piece of jewelry has been stolen, it can easily be melted down for parts. Metals and gemstones can be reset or otherwise stripped of any identifying history before resale, and rising commodity prices make that conversion more profitable than ever. Other artifacts with strong collector demand, such as ancient Chinese porcelain, have a similar appeal, because they can move through the art market with relative ease.

Museums therefore continue to face the challenge of making security tight enough to prevent the loss of invaluable items and light enough to remain a welcoming environment for visitors. Alarm systems at both MAK and Villena functioned as designed, but neither prevented the thefts. As Interpol’s findings suggest, professional and improvised criminal actors are increasingly willing to gamble on speed and confrontation over patient planning. Institutions holding easily liquidated objects should take extra stock of their vaults, staffing, and exhibition in the months ahead.