Historical Valuables Stolen From Church After Being Returned From Sweden
A chapel in the town of Rooslepa was burglarized Monday night, with the thieves making off with historical valuables that had recently been returned to Estonian soil after nearly 60 years.
Läänlane reported that the 22 objects that were stolen included a 370-year-old, gold-plaited chalice and a portrait photo of Sweden's former king, Gustaf VI Adolf, who visited Rooslepa, historically a Swedish-Estonian region, in 1932. They had been evacuated for safekeeping to Stockholm before the Soviet invasion of 1944.
The chapel's alarm went off at 1:24 in the morning, but reaction time was slow and police did not get to the scene until daytime. A groundskeeper said the burglars had come in through a window, broken a glass showcase, and stolen its contents.
The valuables made TV news when they were returned earlier in July.
Rooslepa's stone chapel was built in 1835, replacing a wooden one from 1627. The new chapel was damaged when Soviet soldiers used it in target practice. It was restored and reopened in 2007.