Nadia McDonald
The Civil Guard have returned stolen artefacts and jewellery to the Monastery Lluc’s collection.
This follows the arrest of a museum worker for stealing objects from the monastery’s museum.
The accused has since confessed to the crimes put against him but his statement to the judge was temporarily suspended after he became affected by the proceedings which will continue another day.
The perpetrator is a 56-year-old man of Spanish nationality who worked at the museum which showcased jewellery and pieces of religious and cultural value.
Alongside the robbery of artefacts, €12,100 had also been removed from a safe.
Police initially suspected that an employee was behind the stolen goods as there were no signs of forced entry.
The investigation began after the alarm was raised by Francesc Vicens, Vicar of Culture and Heritage of the Bisbat of Mallorca, that some 50 pieces appeared to have gone missing or to have been replaced on February 6.
Photographs taken by a visitor of the collection in August were compared with more recent photos that shed more light on the missing pieces.
Investigators questioned some 150 workers. They located a gold trading company in Palma that had acquired one of the gold Mallorcan cords and several coins between March and July 2022 from a museum worker.
The priority for police was to retrieve the stolen goods as quickly as possible before they might be cast and lost forever.
They searched the locker of a prime suspect where they found a box containing old coins dating back to Isabel II, five transparent bags of cash donations and a file containing prehistoric coins and artefacts.
Following the discovery of stolen goods in the suspect’s locker, police carried out a search of his home. At the property they found €25,000 worth of banknotes hidden behind a loose ceiling tile and two boxes full of jewels amounting to approximately 100 individual pieces which are classified as assets of cultural interest (BIC).
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