In a statement, the PJ indicated that the items were recovered through the Local Criminal Investigation Unit of Évora and delivered, on Monday, by this police force and the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP), to the Archbishop of Évora, Francisco Senra Coelho.

According to the PJ, the recovered artefacts constitute “a set of offerings made by the faithful who make pilgrimages to the sanctuary, whose disappearance was reported to the PJ in June 2020 by the Archdiocese of Évora”.

Although the report was filed in 2020, the police highlighted that the items had been missing since August 2009.

“This set of pieces, considered a ‘treasure’ as it corresponds to offerings given over the years to the sanctuary, destined for the venerated image of Our Lady of Aires, includes two halos, one in silver and the other in gold, both with precious stones and of high historical and patrimonial value,” added the PJ (Judicial Police).

When announcing the report to the PJ in February 2021, the Archbishop of Évora, Francisco Senra Coelho, revealed in a statement that the disappearance had been reported to him “in mid-2020 by oral account from the parish priests of Viana do Alentejo”.

“We have no estimate of the economic value of the pieces,” Senra Coelho stressed at the time, emphasising that, “from a religious point of view, these are goods offered to God, which cannot be disposed of without the express authorisation of the Holy Father”. At the time, the Archbishop of Évora stressed that “the necessary measures were already being taken to reinforce the protection and safeguarding” of the heritage.

Located about three kilometres from the town of Viana do Alentejo, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aires, considered the largest temple in the south of the country, dating from 1743, annually welcomes many pilgrims from all over the country, but especially from the Alentejo region.