The Ark of The Covenant

[BIAD]

...Further, if they think the blood of Jesus might have damaged it, or that such a story might get out,
then they would be doubly incentivized to hide it away, because that would strengthen the Christian
narrative (since Jesus was sent to end that covenant and institute a new one according to Christians)
and weaken the Jewish story that The Christ hasn't shown up...

I don't know if this historical information will help or not, but it might set researchers in a different direction
in the search for the ark.