SYDNEY, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Police in the Australian state of Queensland said in a statement on Sunday that a 52-year-old man was charged with multiple offences following an incident at a museum where Egyptian artefacts were stolen on Friday.
Police said that the man smashed a window of the Abbey Place property in Caboolture, about 45 km north of Brisbane, and took a quantity of priceless Egyptian artefacts before leaving the scene at 3 a.m. local time.
Around 1:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, police located a vehicle of interest in a car park of Redland Bay ferry terminal, about 32 km southeast of Brisbane. After seizing and searching the vehicle, police found all of the stolen Egyptian artefacts except a wooden cat sculpture. The items were recovered intact, with only minor damage noted.
Several hours later, at around 7 p.m. local time, police arrested the 52-year-old man of no fixed address on Russell Island, about 40 km southeast of Brisbane. He was found in possession of the last missing artefact, the wooden cat sculpture.
Police had charged the man with entering premises and committing an indictable offence by break, and three counts of willful damage, as well as with trespass and assault occasioning bodily harm in relation to an incident in Noosa, about 120 km north of Brisbane, on Thursday. ■