Rare golden artifacts stolen from UK museum. Suspects on scooters sought by police
Seven years ago, the Ely Museum in the U.K. finally welcomed a rare golden artifact to its collection.
Using a combination of grant awards and donations from the public, the museum purchased the 3,000-year-old piece for about $275,000, following its historic discovery two years before, the museum said.
It’s a golden torc, a type of ornamental piece that imitates a rope but is forged from metal.
Now, the torc is missing.
Early in the morning May 7, an unknown person or group of people broke into the Ely Museum, the museum announced in a Facebook post.
The torc, along with another gold bracelet also from the Bronze Age, were taken, museum officials said.
“We are devastated by the loss to the museum and to the local heritage of the region. It is a huge blow after the incredible support from the community in acquiring the torc in 2017. As a culturally significant object, it cannot be replaced. Our priority now is working with the police to locate the stolen objects,” museum curator Elie Hughes said in the post.
Two people were seen near the museum riding e-scooters at about the time of the robbery, police told the museum.
“I am very keen to hear from anyone who may be able to provide information or saw two people on e-scooters who were in the vicinity of the museum, car park and pedestrian walkways at the back of the museum, the council offices and the Grange Car Park, between 12am and 2am on (Tuesday 7 May),” Detective Inspector Kiri Mazur said in the Facebook post.
The torc was discovered by metal detectorists in 2015, according to the museum, and was brought to a “very surprised” archaeological officer.
“It has been 3,000 years since a craftsman twisted 730g of pure gold into this intricately woven, large but delicate torc. Shaped from a square section of a bar of gold, it was twisted and burnished to form this spectacular piece. The precise measurements and delicate twists are a testament to their skill!” the museum said on Facebook in 2017.
It is one of the heaviest and longest ever found in the U.K., the museum said on Facebook last year, and it has a bit of mystery.
“The East Cambridgeshire Gold Torc is too large to be a necklace, or even a belt. Without written sources, we can only speculate how the torc was used. Perhaps it was designed to be worn over heavy clothes or made for a pregnant woman, a statue, or even a ceremonial animal. There is no way to know if it was owned by one person of high status, or owned collectively by a group,” the museum wrote in 2023.
Television presenter Ray Mears called the torc one of the “most remarkable finds in British history,” in a segment for the BBC in 2018, and he said the people of the Bronze Age were “tireless experimenters” who were often underestimated.
“The theft of these items is despicable, and we are focused on identifying the offenders, tracing the items, and returning them to their rightful place,” Mazur said in the May 7 Facebook post.
The Ely Museum is in Ely in southeastern England, about an 80-mile drive north from London.
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