Police have released CCTV footage of two people suspected of stealing “culturally significant” gold artefacts from a museum.
Ely Museum in Cambridgeshire said the East Cambridgeshire gold torc and a gold bracelet – which date back to the Bronze Age – were stolen in a break-in earlier this week.
CCTV shows two people in hooded tops climbing through a window at the museum.
Footage from a second camera shows two people rushing past, then returning in the opposite direction seconds later, one of them apparently carrying a rucksack.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary said the museum was broken into between midnight and 2am on Tuesday, and it is seeking two people seen on e-scooters close to the venue.
Detective Inspector Kiri Mazur said: “We have released this CCTV, not in the hope someone will recognise the figures, but to try to jog memories and encourage anyone with information to come forward.
“We are focused on identifying the offenders, tracing the items, and returning them to their rightful place and are working closely with staff at Ely Museum to follow all lines of inquiry.
“I am very keen to hear from anyone who may be able to provide information or saw two people on e-scooters in the vicinity of the museum, car park and pedestrian walkways at the back of the museum, the council offices and the Grange Car Park, between 12am and 2am on Tuesday.”
The torc, which dates from between 1300 and 1100BC and was found in a field in East Cambridgeshire by a metal detectorist in 2015, is regarded as the best example found in England in more than a century.
It is made of 730g (1lb 10oz) of almost pure gold and the museum says it is one of the largest ever found in the UK.
The museum acquired the torc, valued at £220,000, in 2017 using grants and donations from the public.
It is described on the museum’s website as its “most prized object”.
The bracelet went on show at the museum in 2010, the Cambridgeshire Times reported, after it was also unearthed by a novice metal detectorist in Fordham.
Before the arrival of the torc, it was described as the museum’s “star attraction”.
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Elie Hughes, curator at Ely Museum, said: “We are devastated by the loss to the museum and to the local heritage of the region.
“It is a huge blow after the incredible support from the community in acquiring the torc in 2017.
“As a culturally significant object, it cannot be replaced.
“Our priority now is working with the police to locate the stolen objects.”
