Thieves steal priceless ancient jewelry from prominent history museum, police say

Thieves recently targeted a prominent cultural institution in Wales, stealing precious ancient jewelry from its gallery, officials said.

St. Fagans National Museum, one of the most visited museums in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, was broken into at around 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 6.

The open-air museum is on the grounds of St. Fagans Castle, a 16th-century manor house. It hosts a variety of exhibits displaying Welsh artifacts.

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The heist targeted gold jewelry from the Bronze Age, according to the South Wales Police. 

Cadw, the Welsh heritage service, said the Bronze Age ended in Wales in 800 B.C., making the jewelry almost 3,000 years old.

The stolen lot included bracelets and crescent-shaped gold ornament known as a lunula, according to a report by The Guardian.  

In a statement, Detective Inspector Bob Chambers said the thieves took "several items."

"At this time, we believe that two suspects forced entry to the main building, where several items, including Bronze Age gold jewelry, have been stolen from a display case," Chambers said.

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"An investigation is ongoing, and we urge anyone with information to contact us as soon as possible," he added. "Any information, no matter how small, may be relevant to the investigation."

A spokesperson for Museum Wales, the body that oversees St. Fagans National Museum, told Fox News Digital that two suspects, aged 43 and 50, were arrested in connection to the incident on Tuesday, but the search for the artifacts is still ongoing.

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The organization was unable to disclose the specific artifacts that were stolen given the investigation.

In a statement, Museum Wales said it was "saddened" by the theft, which it described as targeted.

"We would like to thank South Wales Police for their cooperation in this investigation and their prompt response when they were alerted in the early hours," the official added.

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"We are also very grateful to the staff members who were on duty overnight, followed protocol and who were thankfully uninjured during the incident."

The theft occurred just a month after a pharaoh's 3,000-year-old bracelet was stolen from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. 

The artifact was taken by a museum employee and melted down. 

It was made of gold and strung with beads made of lapis lazuli, a blue stone prized in antiquity.