German police seized large parts of the stolen treasures from the 2019 looting of Dresden’s famous “Green Vault.”
During a raid in Berlin in the early hours of Saturday, police special forces and public prosecutors found and secured 31 items representing a “significant part” of the stolen artifacts, authorities said.
In an initial inspection, investigators found that several pieces appeared to be intact, among them the hat decoration and star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle from the stolen diamond set.
The items were transferred to Dresden under the protection of special police forces, where they’ll be examined forensically and then by specialists from the Dresden State Art Collections to check their authenticity.
The Dresden incident was one of a number of heists carried out at German museums in recent years. In November, thieves broke into a museum in Bavaria and made off with nearly 500 ancient gold coins worth several million euros.
In 2020, a Berlin court convicted three men of stealing a 100-kilogram (220-pound) gold coin worth $4 million from a museum in the center of the German capital.
Source: mining.com
