Gold coins stolen from the Musée Romain Lausanne-Vidy

The series of robberies targeting museums with coin exhibitions continues. Now it was the turn of the Musée Romain in Lausanne-Vidy.

A brutal robbery

On Tuesday, November 18, at 4:45 p.m., two men bought tickets at the museum ticket office. They waited inside the building until all visitors had left the museum, which closes at 6:00 p.m., before attacking the security guard and tying him up. They then broke open a display case containing Roman gold coins and stole several dozen of them. After the perpetrators fled, the security guard managed to inform the police.
This triggered a large-scale operation by the Lausanne city police, who collaborated with the cantonal police and the Vaud cantonal police. With the help of a canine unit, they hope to track down the criminals. They are still on the run.

Museums as easy prey

In recent weeks, museums have increasingly become the target of violent robberies, often committed by opportunistic thieves and petty criminals. The gold displayed in glass cases is tempting for burglars. Despite being made of security glass, the cases often cannot withstand the immense force used by criminals.
Since the robbers do not sell the stolen objects on the art market but melt them down, the risk of losing cultural assets is particularly high.

The Swiss broadcaster RTS reported on this.

Text and images: Ursula Kampmann