In an astonishing discovery, a five-year-old boy in Germany accidentally found a treasure trove worth tens of thousands of euros that was stolen and hidden in a village pond.
Police said the youngster came across the jewellery in a pond in the village of Heideck, south of Nuremberg.
It was initially believed that the jewellery was worth around 10,000 euros, but a police spokesman later was quoted by the Local as saying that the find was worth tens of thousands of euros and included rings, bracelets and necklaces.
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The boy was out walking with his family on Wednesday when he found the treasure buried on the edge of the pond.
His parents told the Donaukurier newspaper that the boy was poking around with a stick in the water and cried out to his parents when he saw something glittering.
"At first we just thought that it was wire or something like that," his father was quoted as saying by the daily.
"But then we saw there was a fine necklace and that there were a few more in the water," he said.
The family started taking necklace after necklace out of the water before finding a bag full of jewellery.
Price tags were still on some of the items and the father contacted the jeweller named on the tag. They told him it was stolen and the father called the police.
Police said they believed more treasure was hidden in the water and sent down divers to search.
They said in a statement the jewellery was "clearly loot".
"There are several hundred precious items and less valuable jewels," a police spokesman was quoted as saying.
Some belongs to a jewellery shop in Erlangen which was robbed in January.
