Employees of the Denis Diderot House of Education museum, after the museum had a day off on Monday, noticed that the sliding entrance door had been broken open and the display case with gold and silver coins had been broken. The thieves only stole coins; other exhibits and objects in the museum were not damaged.
Law enforcement officers were immediately alerted and went to the scene. Accompanied by the site manager, they conducted a full inspection of the premises.
A treasure of coins was discovered during restoration work in 2011 in the former museum of the Hotel du Breuil-de-Saint-Germain. Workers tasked with transforming the building into Denis Diderot's House of Education discovered nearly 2,000 coins hidden behind the wood paneling, including 1,633 silver and 319 gold coins minted between 1790 and 1840.
According to the law, the finder received half of the treasure found, and the other half went to the city, the owner of the building. Some of these exhibits were displayed in a showcase as historical evidence of an exceptional find, the value of which at that time was about €90 thousand.
Denis Diderot's House of Education will remain closed until further notice. The city of Langres has already hired a private security company to provide night surveillance of the site until a complete upgrade of the museum's security system is completed.
