St. Zdislava's stolen skull found poured in concrete in the Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, police officers have successfully recovered the skull of St. Zdislava, which was stolen from a basilica in May this year. According to Ukrinform, a 35-year-old suspect was detained shortly before he planned to hide the priceless historical relic forever.

During the investigative measures, the details of which the police did not disclose, it was revealed that the detainee placed the skull in a special object and filled it with concrete. The intruder intended to throw the artifact into the river on Friday, but law enforcers managed to prevent this plan. Now experts face the difficult task of cleaning the remains from the concrete mass without damaging the bone tissue.

The suspect motivated his actions by a personal disagreement with the relics being on public display at the church. According to him, he wanted to «bury the saint privately». Recall, the kidnapping itself occurred on May 12: the criminal broke into the temple at the time of preparation for the service, when the alarm system was temporarily disabled. He broke the double security glass and fled with the skull, leaving in place even more valuable crown. The man faces up to eight years in prison for the crime.

St. Zdislava, who lived in the 13th century, is a deeply revered figure, patroness of families, the sick and the poor. The stolen relic was in the temple for 120 years. Recall that the saint was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1995.