An IDF soldier was taken for questioning on Sunday on suspicion of stealing the glasses of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, which were placed on a desk inside the Kibbutz Sde Boker’s Ben-Gurion’s Hut heritage site. The glasses were found at the soldier's base, and he was released under restrictive conditions at the end of his investigation.
Police officers from the Negev District’s Dimona station launched a probe into the incident following a report of the theft. "After receiving the report, station commander Chief Superintendent Moshe Shitrit instructed his staff to act quickly to track down the perpetrator in order to locate the stolen glasses, which are of historical and national value, and return them to the heritage site," the police said in a statement.
"Station investigators began collecting evidence and succeeded in locating the perpetrator, an IDF soldier, who stole the glasses over the weekend during a tour of the site,” the statement added.
According to the police, "With the assistance of the Military Police Corps and a thorough investigation, a search was conducted at a southern IDF base, where officers found the glasses hidden in a yard near a residential building. The soldier was arrested for questioning at the Dimona station and was released under restrictive conditions at the end of the investigation."
Gil Schneider, the heritage site’s manager, said, "We noticed that the glasses were missing on Sunday morning. The guide opened the hut and reported that she didn’t see them. It was important for us to get the glasses back, and the police acted amazingly. That night, an investigator called me and told that they would return the glasses in the afternoon."