[MSN] Denmark. Museum theft. COPENHAGEN (AFP) - One of Denmark's national treasures, a set of two horns made in the 1800s, was stolen in the early hours of Monday, Danish police said. Experts said the thieves would not be able to sell the treasures.

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

Danish national treasure stolen 
46 minutes ago 

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - One of Denmark's national treasures, a set of two horns
made in the 1800s, was stolen in the early hours of Monday, Danish police
said.

Called "Guldhornene" in Danish, or the Golden Horns, the pieces are silver
replicas of two original gold horns made in 400 A.D. which were stolen in
1802 and destroyed.

The replicas, with a thin gold coating, were on loan from the National
Museum of Denmark for an exhibit in Jelling, near the central Danish town of
Vejle, when they were stolen by thieves who smashed a display case.

Even though the works are replicas they are part of the country's cultural
heritage, National Museum curator Carsten Larsen said.

The originals were discovered in the town of Gallehus in southern Denmark in
1639 before they went missing and were found again in 1734.

They were stolen in 1802 from the Royal Chamber of Art by an indebted
jeweller, Niels Heidenreich, who melted the gold to make jewellery and
counterfeit coins.

The horns are a national symbol known to all and have even inspired a famous
poem penned by Danish writer Adam Oehenschlaeger.

Experts said the thieves would not be able to sell the treasures.

"The thieves cannot put them to any use whatsoever," said Michael Fornitz
from Copenhagen's Bruun Rasmussen auction house.

"Maybe they thought the horns were made of solid gold and thought they would
melt them down. But they are gilded and do not have any intrinsic worth."

He also shot down the idea that a collector could have ordered the theft.

"Our experience shows that this hypothesis only exists in detective novels,"
he said. "Collectors are proud of showing off their acquisitions, not hiding
them."

Danish police have meanwhile stepped up a search for the thieves who fled
from the precincts in a Volvo V40, according to witnesses.

http://afp.google.com/