Australian police have arrested a man accused of stealing priceless ancient Egyptian artefacts from a Queensland museum, recovering nearly all the items including a 2,600-year-old wooden cat sculpture just days after the brazen heist.
The theft occurred in the early hours of Friday at the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology in Caboolture, Queensland, where the suspect allegedly broke a window to gain entry and fled with a mummy mask, a collar, a necklace and the wooden cat from Egypt's 26th dynasty.
Acting on a tip, officers searched a car at a ferry terminal south of the museum the following day, Saturday, and discovered all the stolen goods except the wooden cat, with only minor damage reported to the recovered items.
That same evening, police arrested the suspect on Russell Island, a small island off the Queensland coast. “Police will allege the man was found in possession of the last missing artefact, the wooden cat sculpture,” authorities stated, as reported by American broadcaster NBC News.
Local media identified the man as Miguel Simon Mungarrieta Monsalve, who was charged with breaking and entering, as well as three counts of wilful damage.
Appearing in court on Monday, a prosecutor detailed the haul, noting the necklace was reportedly 3,300 years old, and accused the man of causing “irreparable damage” to other items during the theft, according to public broadcaster ABC.
