More than $1.4 million of historical treasures have been stolen from Arundel Castle, days after it reopened to the public on Tuesday.

A set of “irreplaceable” gold rosary beads carried by Mary Queen of Scots to her execution in 1587 were among items taken from the West Sussex castle. Other goods stolen in the raid on Friday include coronation cups given by Mary to the Earl Marshal.

An Arundel Castle spokesman said the items were of “priceless historical importance”.

Staff were alerted to the break-in at 22:30 BST on Friday after a burglar alarm went off. Police arrived at the scene within minutes, a Sussex Police spokesman said.

“The items were taken by force from a display cabinet along the public route.”