General News
3 June, 2025
Gem thieves steal an ‘irreplaceable’ collection
ABOUT $10,000 worth of items have been stolen from the local lapidary club’s most “precious, irreplaceable, and high quality” collections.
The break-in at the Atherton Tableland Mineral and Lapidary Club at Tolga occurred in the late or early hours of 22 May, when the club’s two most valuable collections, made up of azurite, malachite, opals, selenite and other mineral specimens, were stolen.
The club believes the thieves “undoubtably had good knowledge of the collections” and “specifically targeted” them.
“They knew exactly what they were looking for as the two collections that were targeted included very expensive minerals and specimens,” club secretary Jan Hannam said.
“Those collections were donated by two different families many years ago and they were absolutely devastated when they found out they were stolen.
“We know they had very good knowledge of the value of each item they took because there were a few specimens left behind that aren’t regarded as all that expensive.
“The two collections were very valuable. We’re putting a figure of about $10,000 they’ve got away with.”
The club is now looking to the community for assistance by keeping an eye out for any information that might point them in the right direction.
“If people could really keep their eyes open and ears to the ground, we would really appreciate that. They may want to try and move the items at markets, online marketplaces, or any festivals selling gems and things like that,” Mrs Hannam said.
The club is also offering a $1,000 reward for the retrieval of the stolen collections.
Mrs Hannam urged if anyone “sees something suspicious or hears any whispers” to call her on 0417 746 630 or contact local police.
A similar incident occurred late last year when the Tolga Museum was subject to a break-in, with thieves who “looked like they knew what they were doing” stealing items from its “high end” collection.
