Artifacts stolen from a castle in England include coronation cups and the gold rosary beads of Mary, Queen of Scots when she was executed in 1587 on orders of her English cousin Queen Elizabeth I.
BRITISH police are searching for thieves who broke into a southern England castle and ran off with “irreplaceable” artifacts including items made of gold and silver worth over $1.4 million.
Burglar alarms went off and alerted staff at Arundel Castle on Friday night at around 10:30 p.m. local time, where they found out that items of “great historical significance” were stolen from a display cabinet.
Some stolen artifacts include coronation cups and the gold rosary beads of Mary, Queen of Scots when she was executed in 1587 on her English cousin Queen Elizabeth I’s order.
Police said the rosary beads are an “irreplaceable” piece of national history in Britain.
According to a spokesperson for Arundel Castle Trustees, while the stolen items have a significant monetary value, the unique artifacts have an immeasurable and priceless historical value.
Following the theft, the trustees urged anyone with information on the robbery to assist the police in finding the missing items and returning them back to the castle, where they belong.
Shortly after the burglary, an abandoned vehicle was found on fire in a nearby village.
Police are now investigating the vehicle to see whether or not it had a connection to the Arundel Castle burglary.
The castle reopened to visitors on May 18, just a couple of days before the incident.
The reopening came after Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were further eased in England.
Now, detectives are asking those who were in the castle if they’ve seen any suspicious persons in the vicinity while they were visiting.
Arundel Castle was built by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel at the end of the 11th century.
During the English Civil War in the mid-17th century, it was badly damaged due to two sieges, and was not renovated until around 1718. (MO)
Tags: #artifacts, #castle, #England, #theft