Museums Under Siege: A Pattern of Disrespect The heist at Villena Museum in Spain's Alicante province is just the latest in a string of brazen robberies targeting Europe's cultural treasures.
The thieves' audacity was matched only by their ease of operation, which took a mere four minutes to sweep through the museum and make off with a significant portion of the Treasure of Villena – almost ten kilos of gold, bowls, bottles, and bracelets dating back to the Bronze Age.
This trend is not new. The Louvre in Paris was targeted last year, and again this past October when thieves broke in during broad daylight and made off with $102 million worth of jewelry.