Ancient gold coins stolen from museum after suspects overpower guard, Swiss police say

Dozens of gold coins from the Roman period were stolen when a Swiss museum was robbed this week, police said Thursday, adding that the value of the bounty was still being calculated.

The Roman Museum in the western city of Lausanne was just about to close for the day on Tuesday when two men who had entered earlier after purchasing tickets jumped a security guard, Lausanne police said in a statement.

“The two individuals assaulted and overpowered the guard. They then broke into a secured display case and stole several gold coins that were displayed inside,” before fleeing, the statement said.

The 64-year-old security guard had activated the museum’s panic alarm, triggering a rapid response by law enforcement, police said. But the perpetrators remained at large.

The guard, who was the only museum employee present at the time of the robbery, was “safe and sound” despite the circumstances, they said.

An effort was underway to determine the exact number of items stolen, the statement said.  

Police stressed that the stolen objects had “archeological value,” but said the monetary value had yet to be determined.  

The heist marked the latest of a worrying series of robberies from cultural institutions around the globe in recent weeks.

In October, thieves carried out a brazen daytime heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris on a Sunday morning, breaking into the famed landmark using a basket lift to force open a window, smash display cases and steal jewelry that was estimated to be worth $102 million.

Also last month, the Oakland Museum of California said thieves made off with more than 1,000 priceless objects from their collection.

In September, thieves broke into Paris’ Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth $700,000. That same month, artifacts worth $11 million were stolen from the Dubouche National Museum in Limoges in central France.

Also in September, a rare, 3,000-year-old golden bracelet vanished from a restoration lab at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Days later, authorities announced the treasure was stolen by a restoration worker who sold it for less than $4,000, and that it was melted down and lost forever.