Bolivia's gold-and-emerald presidential medal with sash,
which dates back to the foundation of the republic in 1825, was reportedly stolen
from a guard's car while the officer visited a brothel.
The officer identified as Lieutenant Roberto Ortiz was meant
to deliver the priceless historic medal and a tricolor sash to President Evo
Morales to wear during his speech on Wednesday in the central city of
Cochabamba, according to a police report quoted by local media
But his flight on Tuesday was delayed and the officer
instead decided to visit various brothels, according to Police report.
"I entered a number of these different establishments
(brothels) but then returned to where I left my motor car," the report
quoted the custodian as having told police. "When I got there my backpack,
which held the emblems of the nation, had been taken."
Luckily, police found the items after the Peruvian thieves
dumped them in the portico of a church in the city center.
Police Colonel Jhonny Aguilera said officers found the items
in black bags after TV station Unitel informed him of anonymous tip.
President Evo Morales, who last wore the emblems on August
6, during celebrations marking Bolivia's 193rd anniversary appeared at the
Cochabamba military parade on Wednesday with neither medal nor sash and didn't
make any reference to the stolen items.
According to Daily Mail, the medal was a gift from the
Congress of the recently formed Bolivian republic to its founder in 1825 and
was first used in 1826 as the presidential medal by Antonio Jose de Sucre. The
gold medal, encrusted with emeralds, is normally kept in a secure vault at the
Central Bank but is delivered to the president for ceremonial occasions.
