Ancient Egyptian artifacts stolen from Australian museum

He turned “cat burglar” into a job description.

A 52‑year‑old man has been charged after an Egyptian cat sculpture and “priceless” artifacts were stolen from an Australian history museum, Queensland police said Sunday.

The suspect is accused of smashing a window at the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology in Caboolture, north of Brisbane, in the early hours of Friday morning, before making off with the ancient haul.

Authorities quickly recovered the stolen treasures, including the 2,600-year-old wooden feline, a 3,300-year-old necklace, a mummy mask and a collar from a mummy.

All the stolen items have now been recovered with only minor damage after searching a camper van, police said, with most of the artifacts still intact.

Police located the vehicle in a parking lot at a ferry terminal at around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, roughly 50 miles from the museum, following a two-day search.

The suspect, who has no fixed address, was allegedly found in possession of the final missing item — the wooden cat sculpture. He was arrested on Russell Island, a small island off the coast of Queensland, hours later and has been charged with breaking and entering, along with three counts of willful damage.

He is due to appear in Cleveland Magistrates Court on Monday.

The heist wasn’t quite as movie‑made as the Louvre heist in October 2025, when four masked thieves pulled off a daylight robbery in just seven minutes, smashing display cases to steal eight pieces of France’s historic crown jewels.

France’s Ministry of Culture confirmed the jewels stolen included a necklace and a pair of earrings from the Marie-Louise collection; a necklace, earrings and a tiara from the Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense collection; and a brooch, bodice bow and a tiara from the collection of Empress Eugénie.

The stolen jewels are worth an estimated $102 million, and the majority were not recovered.