Museum robberies are becoming increasingly violent, with thieves using explosives, axes and sledgehammers.
According to Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, criminals are primarily going after ancient artefacts made of gold, which can be melted down and the precious metal sold without leaving a trace.
Europol's new report, Changing Tactics, Changing Targets: The Evolving Nature of Museum Heists, says the profile of the thieves is changing.
Thefts from museums have traditionally been regarded as a “non-violent form of organised property crime, with perpetrators using tactics like reconnaissance and discreet execution”, the report said.
But that appears to be shifting, with brute force replacing guile, said the Europol report, and modern-day robbers typically with a background in other types of crime.
“Offenders are adopting more direct and confrontational approaches, and focusing on specific categories of cultural artefacts,” it said.
The report says the criminals are "breaching premises and display cases using tools such as sledgehammers, axes, crowbars and, in some instances, explosives".
“Some criminal actors and networks, typically active in other criminal markets, have realised the low-risk, high-profit potential of museum heists.”
These are “attractive to criminal networks due to their visibility, accessibility and the perception that museum security measures are less robust than those in jewellery store. Driven by high demand, they are likely to be easily sold on the art market”.
Jewellery and Chinese porcelain can also be removed from museum pieces and moved on discreetly, said Europol.
The agency traces the new trend back to 2024, when four hooded criminals, equipped with baseball bats and axes, stormed into the Cognacq-Jay art museum in Paris. They took seven objects adorned with gold and diamonds before fleeing the scene.
Violence also featured in the Louvre Museum robbery in October last year, when thieves smashed a window, then threatened guards and visitors before making off with €88 million of jewellery.
Explosives were used in the Netherlands in the same year, when a gang broke into the Drents Museum in Assen.
Footage released by Dutch police shows the moment the doors were blasted off by the thieves, who made off with several Dacian archaeological artefacts, including a golden helmet and three bracelets.
The helmet and two of the three bracelets have been recovered and returned to Romania. Three men were jailed for their part in the robbery.
Europol says that thieves convicted in recent cases appear to co-ordinate their efforts on an ad hoc basis, rather than operating in gangs organised around a leader, as happens with criminal networks involved in cultural goods trafficking.
They are often recruited locally through social media and instant communication channels, without previous connections to each other.
