2,500-Year-Old Celtic Gold Torc Stolen from French Museum in Broad Daylight

Key facts

• The Vix Torc, a 2,500-year-old Celtic gold collar, was stolen on July 24 from the Musée du Pays Châtillonnais in Châtillon-sur-Seine, Burgundy.
• Thieves entered as visitors, bought tickets, broke the display case, and left through the main entrance.
• The Dijon prosecutor's office is investigating for organized crime, with the case transferred to the Juridiction Interrégionale Spécialisée de Nancy.
• The museum had recently invested €150,000 in security upgrades after two attempted break-ins in the past eight months.
• Mayor Jérémie Brigand called the theft an attack on French cultural heritage, noting the artifact's unique historical value.
• The torc is made of 24-karat gold, weighs over half a kilo, and features lion-paw finials and Pegasus figures, blending Greek and Celtic styles.
• It is part of the Vix Treasure, discovered in 1953 in the tomb of the 'Lady of Vix,' a Celtic aristocrat buried between 470 and 460 BC.
• The tomb also contained the Vix Krater from Sybaris and a silver patera, the oldest such vessel north of the Alps.