British Museum sacks employee after number of items 'missing, stolen or damaged'
A member of staff has been sacked and the Metropolitan Police are investigating after a number of items from the British Museum were found to be “missing, stolen or damaged”.
Items including gold, jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones were among those found to be missing, stolen or damaged. It was only earlier this year that the museum first realised what was happening.
The majority of these were "small pieces" being kept in a "storeroom belonging to one of the museum's collections". They were dated from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD and none had recently been on public display. Instead they were being kept mostly for academic and research purposes.
Hartwig Fischer, director of the British Museum, admitted it was a "highly unusual incident" and apologised for what happened.
The London museum, which houses artefacts from around the world, has launched an independent review of security as it said a staff member at the institution has been dismissed.
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It isn't clear how long this went on for, but the museum is now working to figure out exactly what was stolen, has gone missing or is damaged - as this currently isn't known. Similarly, they are now making "vigorous" efforts to try and track down and bring back said objects and the economic crime command of the Met Police are investigating.
In a statement, he said: "This is a highly unusual incident. I know I speak for all colleagues when I say that we take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously.
"The museum apologises for what has happened, but we have now brought an end to this - and we are determined to put things right. We have already tightened our security arrangements and we are working alongside outside experts to complete a definitive account of what is missing, damaged and stolen. This will allow us to throw our efforts into the recovery of objects."
The museum is also taking legal action against the individual and the independent review will be led by former museum trustee Sir Nigel Boardman, and Lucy D’Orsi, Chief Constable of the British Transport Police.
George Osborne, Chair of the British Museum, said: "The Trustees of the British Museum were extremely concerned when we learnt earlier this year that items of the collection had been stolen. The Trustees have taken decisive action to deal with the situation, working with the team at the Museum. We called in the police, imposed emergency measures to increase security, set up an independent review into what happened and lessons to learn, and used all the disciplinary powers available to us to deal with the individual we believe to be responsible.
“Our priority is now threefold: first, to recover the stolen items; second, to find out what, if anything, could have been done to stop this; and third, to do whatever it takes, with investment in security and collection records, to make sure this doesn’t happen again. This incident only reinforces the case for the reimagination of the Museum we have embarked upon. It’s a sad day for all who love our British Museum, but we’re determined to right the wrongs and use the experience to build a stronger Museum.”
Sir Nigel Boardman said: "The British Museum has been the victim of theft and we are absolutely determined to use our review in order to get to the bottom of what happened, and ensure lessons are learnt. We are working alongside the Metropolitan Police in the interest of criminal justice to support any investigations.
“Furthermore, the recovery programme will work to ensure the stolen items are returned to the Museum. It will be a painstaking job, involving internal and external experts, but this is an absolute priority – however long it takes – and we are grateful for the help we have already received.”
A spokesperson for the Met Police said: "We have been working alongside the British Museum. There is currently an ongoing investigation – there is no arrest and enquiries continue."
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