Västerås Cathedral Royal Burial Regalia in Sweden Taken, Then Turned In

Summary: Västerås Cathedral royal burial regalia in Sweden was removed from a sarcophagus May 3, 2013, and retrieved along the route to Hallstahammar May 6, 2013.

Thieves stole, and then returned, the royal burial crown, orb and scepter from 16th-century Swedish King Eric XIV's tomb in Västerås Cathedral, Västmanland province, south central Sweden; image of Eric XIV's coronation crown in the vaults of the Royal Treasury under the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Stockholm County, central Sweden, from Gertrude Serner, Svenska Konstskatter (1949), page 49: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Anonymous thieves in Sweden absconded May 3, 2013, with the Västerås Cathedral royal burial regalia and then anonymously allowed the three items' access and acquisition by Västmanland County police May 6, 2013.

Two or more burglars bore away a bronze crown, one bronze scepter and one gilded wooden orb sometime between Thursday closing time and Friday opening hours. One of the same perpetrators or their accessories the following Monday contacted the Västmanland County police, whose jurisdiction covers the Västerås Cathedral, concerning the criminal carry-out. Ann-Charlotte Israelsson, officer with the Västmanland County police, divulged Monday to the TT News Agency that "An anonymous tipster called and said where the loot was."

Israelsson explained that "we just had to go out and get it" from near the Västmanland County stretch between Hallstahammar and Västerås of the E18 motorway.

Västmanland County police found the apple-shaped, gilded orb and the silver-detailed bronze crown and matching scepter in two big garbage bags alongside highway 555 Monday evening.

Israelsson gave the reaction of officials at the Västerås Cathedral as "They are so happy and relieved that we were able to recover the missing items." The crypt has yet to hold the Västerås Cathedral royal burial regalia once again on the sarcophagus upper-side's cushion, whose patterned Vasa corn sheaves herald royalty. JDZ, in Funeral Regalia of 16th Century Swedish King Stolen from Cathedral for the blog Never Yet Melted May 5, 2013, identified the sarcophagus's "gaping void."

The Västerås Cathedral royal burial regalia thieves jimmied the cushion, whose underside joined the royal sarcophagus's upper-side and whose upper-side juggled the crown, orb and scepter.

Possible physical evidence temporarily keeps the Västerås Cathedral royal burial regalia with crime-solving specialists at the National Bureau of Investigations (Rikskriminalpolisen) and the Västmanland County police.

Recovery of the Västerås Cathedral royal burial regalia launches investigations into the identities and locations of the anonymous tipster and the anonymous burglars and their accessories. Israelsson mentioned, "it [the caller] might have been a thief who got cold feet and called to tip us off about there [sic] the items were." She noted, "If it had been thieves who had them in their possession, I don't think they would have wanted to be discovered with the items."

Israelsson colleague Thomas Gustafsson observed, "These things are so special that most people should react if they surface. We have notified all police stations in Sweden."

Kenneth Mandergrehn of the National Bureau of Investigations predicted of collectors and sellers, "Anyone in the business who'd be offered to buy them would immediately react."

Johan Sköld as pastor qualifies the Västerås Cathedral royal burial regalia as "invaluable as symbols of a previous Swedish monarch. Their sentimental value cannot be measured." John Rothlind, curator at the Swedish Church in Västerås, ruminates that "We work hard to improve security, but the objects must also be accessible to all." Eric IV's (Dec. 13, 1533-Feb. 26, 1577) sarcophagus shelters, since 1800, silver-detailed equivalents of John III's (Dec. 20, 1537-Nov. 17, 1592) all-gold regalia still in Uppsala.

Who turned two Västerås Cathedral royal burial regalia from the 1590s and another from 1800 into a weekend theft May 3-6, 2013, after two trauma-free centuries?

Västerås Cathedral in April 2013, one month before May theft and return of Eric XIV's royal burial regalia; Sunday, April 7, 2013, 10:3: EliziR, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Thieves stole, and then returned, the royal burial crown, orb and scepter from 16th-century Swedish King Eric XIV's tomb in Västerås Cathedral, Västmanland province, south central Sweden; image of Eric XIV's coronation crown in the vaults of the Royal Treasury under the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Stockholm County, central Sweden, from Gertrude Serner, Svenska Konstskatter (1949), page 49: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_crown_of_Sweden.jpg

Västerås Cathedral in April 2013, one month before May theft and return of Eric XIV's royal burial regalia; Sunday, April 7, 2013, 10:32: EliziR, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Västerås_domkyrkan,_Västerås_(abril_2013)_-_panoramio.jpg;
EliziR, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, Panoramio, via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20161024172310/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/88604723

For further information:

"Eric XIV." Find a Grave.com > Memorial.
Available @ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12619748/eric_xiv

JDZ. 5 May 2013. "Funeral Regalia of 16th Century Swedish King Stolen from Cathedral." Never Yet Melted.
Available @ http://neveryetmelted.com/2013/05/05/funeral-regalia-of-16th-century-swedish-king-stolen-from-cathedral/

"Johan III's Regalia Stolen." Nordstjernan > News > Sweden.
Available @ http://www.nordstjernan.com/news/sweden/5491/

"John III." Find a Grave.com > Memorial.
Available @ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8508868/john_iii

Moberg, Vilhelm. 2005. A History of the Swedish People. Volume I: From Prehistory to the Renaissance. Translated by Paul Britten Austin. Minneapolis MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Moberg, Vilhelm. 2005. A History of the Swedish People. Volume II: From Renaissance to Revolution. Translated by Paul Britten Austin. Minneapolis MN: University of Minnesota Press.

"Royal Regalia Heist Shocks Swedish Church." The Local > SE > 4 May 2013.
Available @ https://www.thelocal.se/20130504/47710

Serner, Gertrude. 1949. Svenska Konstskatter: Från äldsta tider till 1900-talets början. Stockholm, Sweden: Bokförlaget Forum.

"Swedish Royal Regalia Found in Garbage Bags." UPI > World News > May 7, 2013.
Available @ https://www.upi.com/Swedish-royal-regalia-found-in-garbage-bags/26581367929357/

"Swedish Royal Regalia Found in Rubbish Bags." The Local > SE > News > 7 May 2013.
Available @ https://www.thelocal.se/20130507/47750