Nobel Peace Prize medal stolen in Newcastle

The gold Nobel Peace Prize was stolen during a raid at the Lord Mayor of Newcastle’s mansion. The police have appealed to the public to help with the search of the valuable items.

The gold Nobel award was presented to the Newcastle City Council by politician Arthur Henderson, the UK Foreign Secretary in the 1920s and 1930s. The medal was awarded to him in 1934 for the chairmanship during the World Disarmament Conference, which took place in Geneva between 1932 and 1934.

According to the police, the thieves broke in through the cellar of the mansion overnight between Monday and Tuesday.
The haul of raiders is thought to be worth an estimated £ 150,000 ($225,000). Among the other valuables stolen were a large collection of silverware and a lock of hair of Lord Collingwood, a Royal Navy Admiral, who lived in the late 18th - early 19th century and became famous for his participation in the Napoleonic Wars, particularly it the Battle of Trafalgar, when the British fleet under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated Napoleon’s fleet.

Newcastle was Arthur Henderson’s home town. Before devoting himself to the trade union and political activity, he worked at the local locomotive works. In 1917 Henderson visited Russia to negotiate with representatives of the Provisional Government and Petrograd Soviet. In 1929 as Britain’s Foreign Secretary he restored diplomatic relations with Russia broken by the conservative government in 1927.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his chairmanship of the World Disarmament Conference aimed at averting a new world war. But the talks broke down as Hitler came to power and withdrew Germany from the Conference.