Australian police arrest man, recover stolen Egyptian artefacts after museum heist

South China Morning Post · Feb 16, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Australian police have recovered a trove of stolen Egyptian artefacts and charged a 52-year-old man with a nighttime smash and grab at a museum.The man was accused of breaking a window and making off with the priceless treasures in the early hours of Friday from the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology in the Queensland town of Caboolture.Police said they found all the stolen goods – except for a wooden cat sculpture believed to be around 2,600 years old and from the 26th dynasty of ancient Egypt – with only minor damage when they searched a car the following day at a ferry terminal south of the museum.They arrested the suspect on the same evening on Russell Island, a small island off the coast of Queensland, according to American broadcaster NBC News. “Police will allege the man was found in possession of the last missing artefact, the wooden cat sculpture,” they said.A wooden cat figurine that was stolen from the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology. Photo: Queensland PoliceThe man, named by local media as Miguel Simon Mungarrieta Monsalve, was charged with various counts including breaking and entering, and three counts of wilful damage.In court on Monday, a prosecutor said the man stole a mummy mask, a collar, a necklace reportedly 3,300 years old and the wooden cat while also causing “irreparable damage” to other items, according to public broadcaster ABC.