Moon rock stolen from Mdina museum

A moon rock displayed at the National Museum of Natural History in Mdina has been stolen.

The curator and the museum officer discovered that the display case had been forced open and the rock stolen when they were conducting a routine inspection on Tuesday.

Apparently, the theft took place sometime on Tuesday morning as the morning inspection did not reveal any breakage or missing artefacts.

The piece was a very important part of the museum's collection. It was picked up from the moon's Taurus Littrow Valley by the astronauts of Apollo XVII during their mission of December 7 - 9, 1972.

The rock was preserved in a glass bubble and was presented as a donation to the people of Malta by US President Richard Nixon in 1973 as a sign of friendship and collaboration between the US and Malta.

The small Maltese flag which was carried on board the Apollo XVII and displayed together with the moon rock was left untouched. The flag formed part of the original group of Commonwealth countries' flags taken on the December 1972 mission.

Heritage Malta yesterday strongly condemned what it called a "cowardly act as the nation has been deprived of an important artefact of historical relevance".

The police are investigating.

Anyone with information that may help police in their investigations can dial 2122 1111.