Watch: Hooded thief flees with 800-year-old skull of medieval saint

15 May 2026 • 1:43 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Watch: Hooded thief flees with 800-year-old skull of medieval saint

A hooded thief stole an 800-year-old skull of a saint from a church in the Czech Republic, security footage released on Tuesday (12 May) shows.

Video published by Policie České shows a figure dressed in all black running through the pews to grab the skull, believed to be of Saint Zdislava of Lemberk.

“Its historic value is obviously incalculable,” said Dagmar Sochorova, a spokesperson for the police, as he announced that an investigation had been launched.

On Thursday (14 May), police said that they had detained a 35-year-old man after they “managed to obtain information about the ​location of the rare relic”.