In the early hours of Friday, a collection of invaluable ancient Egyptian artefacts was stolen from the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology in Caboolture, north of Brisbane, prompting an urgent police response.

The break-in occurred at around three o’clock in the morning when a window of the museum was smashed and several objects from its Pharaoh’s Egypt exhibition were taken.

Queensland Police launched an immediate investigation following the burglary, which saw items including a painted wooden cat figurine representing the goddess Bast from Egypt’s Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, a necklace dating back over three thousand three hundred years, and a life-size cartonnage mummy mask among the missing treasures.

Other objects, including a pectoral collar adorned with the four sons of the god Horus and a painted coffin panel, were also taken, while some smaller pieces such as an ushabti figurine and a ring sustained damage during the theft.

After a two-day search, officers made a significant breakthrough on Saturday afternoon when they located a Toyota HiAce camper van parked at the Redland Bay ferry terminal containing most of the stolen artefacts in relatively undamaged condition.

The final missing item, the wooden cat sculpture, was recovered when a fifty-two-year-old man with no fixed address was arrested on Russell Island later that evening.

The suspect has been charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit an indictable offence, three counts of wilful damage, and additional offences including trespass and assault occasioning bodily harm in relation to a separate incident earlier in the month.

He is scheduled to appear in Cleveland Magistrates Court on Monday.

Museum staff expressed profound relief at the recovery of the artefacts and gratitude for the swift work of authorities.

Curators emphasised their role as custodians of objects with millennia of cultural history behind them and noted that stabilising and conserving the fragile items, particularly the mask and collar, will require considerable time and expense.

The swift recovery of the bulk of the collection has underscored both the vulnerability of cultural heritage and the effectiveness of coordinated law enforcement efforts in protecting it.