Have you seen this 3,000-year-old bracelet? The missing treasure from a Cairo museum.

A gold bracelet belonging to an ancient pharaoh has disappeared from a Cairo museum, sparking a nationwide search, Egyptian authorities report. The 3,000-year-old treasure was being restored in a laboratory when it disappeared, according to the country's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities .

For now, a photograph of the object has been sent to airports, border crossings, and seaports to help prevent smuggling out of the country, the Ministry said in a statement last Wednesday. It is adorned with lapis lazuli beads that belonged to King Amenemope of the Third Intermediate Period. Known for its deep blue hue and golden flecks, lapis lazuli was highly prized in ancient Egypt for its association with the gods and its supposed healing powers.

The bracelet was part of a collection of artifacts being prepared for transport to Italy as part of the Treasures of the Pharaohs exhibition, which opens at a Rome museum next month. The museum's general director has already warned that some images circulating on social media belong to a different artifact.

The ministry admitted to having deliberately delayed announcing the bracelet's disappearance in order not to compromise the investigation. A specialized committee had been formed to inventory and review all the objects kept in the museum's restoration laboratory and ensure that no others had been lost.

The ministry admitted to having deliberately delayed announcing the disappearance in order not to compromise the investigation.

Amenemope was a pharaoh of the 21st Dynasty who ruled Egypt from 993 to 984 BC. His burial is notable for being one of only three completely intact royal burials known from ancient Egypt. His tomb was discovered by French Egyptologists Pierre Montet and Georges Goyon in April 1940, but its excavation was delayed by World War II.

This is not the first time an object has been stolen in Egypt, which is no stranger to high-profile art and antiques thefts. Vincent van Gogh's painting Poppy Flowers, valued at around $55 million, was stolen from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo in 1977, recovered two years later, and then stolen again in 2010. It has yet to be recovered.

A gold bracelet belonging to an ancient pharaoh has disappeared from a Cairo museum, sparking a nationwide search, Egyptian authorities report. The 3,000-year-old treasure was being restored in a laboratory when it disappeared, according to the country's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities .