Egypt fears missing pharaoh’s bracelet has been melted down for gold

The Gilded Wooden Mask from the coffin of Amenemope displayed prior to the opening of Ramses II exhibition at the Grande Halle de La Villette in Paris - (AFP/Getty)

A 3,000-year-old gold bracelet, reported missing from an Egyptian museum this month, was stolen and melted down, the country's Interior Ministry confirmed on Thursday.

The Antiquities and Tourism Ministry had initially announced the loss of the artefact, which belonged to King Amenemope of the Third Intermediate Period, who ruled Egypt around 1,000 BC.