masterly craftsmanship on the territory of today's Slovenia in the 2nd millennium BC, has returned home – to the National Museum of Slovenia.
The thief will probably never be held responsible for the theft, but the finding nevertheless points to the importance of international databases of stolen objects.
The approximately 3,600 year-old bronze dagger from Ig was presented today in the National Museum of Slovenia. The dagger, stolen from the museum in 1985, was returned last week. Interpol tracked it down in 2015 at an auction in London and reported the planned purchase to the Slovene police. Given the fact that the statute of limitations for the pursuit of proceedings had expired, the dagger returned to Slovenia through diplomatic routes.
44 objects still missing
Barbara Ravnik, director of the National Museum of Slovenia, expressed her delight that the dagger from Ig has returned to the museum. She said that 45 pieces of tools, jewellery and weaponry from the Bronze Age were stolen in 1985, including the dagger. Most of the objects were owned by the National Museum, whereas five of them came from the Regional Museum Maribor.
