Hunebed Center Finds Rare Stolen Diamond Hidden Among Fossils After 20 Years

It sounds like a plot from a Tintin comic, but this is a true story in which the Hunebed Center in Borger played a key role.

A rare Siberian diamond, millions of years old, vanished without a trace in 2008. It was part of the Hekman collection of minerals, crystals, and gemstones held by the Natural History Museum of Groningen. When the museum closed, the collection was transferred to the University Museum of Groningen and stored in a depot. Staff soon discovered the diamond was missing, along with a gold nugget and a piece of platinum.

Despite police investigations and media attention, the stone remained lost for nearly twenty years.

Years later, the Hunebed Center received a collection of limestone rocks from Urk and the Noordoostpolder. They stored the crates in a depot in Stadskanaal. When Museum Schokland requested the limestone for an exhibition, a staff member sorting through the fossils found an unusual stone and contacted the Hunebed Center.

The director nearly fell off his chair. It was the long-lost Siberian diamond.

How it ended up among the limestone remains a mystery. The theory is that the thief hid the diamond among the collection material, planning to retrieve it later. But the media attention made selling it impossible without being caught.

The diamond has been returned to the University Museum of Groningen, which has opened a temporary exhibition called 'The Lost Diamond' to mark the occasion.