[MSN] Colombian Police Arrest Thieves of Ecuadorean Baroque Treasure

[MSN]

Colombian Police Arrest Thieves of Ecuadorean Baroque Treasure

By Stephan Kueffner

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Colombian police arrested four suspects in the city
of Pereira over the theft of a baroque treasure from a museum in Ecuador.

Police found part of a baroque monstrance and several other artifacts stolen
from the religious art museum in the central Ecuadorean city of Riobamba
last October, Deputy Foreign Minister Jose Valencia said today in a radio
interview with Ecuador Inmediato.

The base of the 1 meter (3.3 foot) tall Riobamba Monstrance, which in Roman
Catholic liturgy is used to display the host in processions, hasn't been
recovered, he added.

Made in 1705 and valued at several million dollars, the complete monstrance
weighs 36 kilograms and is made of gold and silver and encrusted with about
3,500 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, amethysts and other precious stones.

Police also recovered the golden crown, scepter, and jewel- studded cape of
a statue of the Virgin Mary, said Valencia.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephan Kueffner in Quito at
skueffner at bloomberg.net