Guns, axes, explosives: violent museum heists are on the rise, says Europol

Armed police guarding the recovered helmet of Coțofenești in April after it was stolen from the Drents Museum in the Netherlands. Photograph: Sem van der Wal/EPA

Robberies at European museums are becoming increasingly violent, with thieves sometimes brandishing guns, assaulting staff and using sledgehammers, axes and even explosives to smash their way into buildings and display cases, according to a report by Europol.

The EU police agency said that while museum thefts were generally seen as a non-violent form of organised property crime, member states had detected a recent shift “towards violent and forceful methods” that could point to the involvement of new criminal networks focused on specific cultural artefacts.