More than 1,500 items from British Museum 'stolen or destroyed' as probe deepens

22 August 2023 , 17:49

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Museum staff are working on a list of missing items (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

More than 1,500 artefacts worth millions are believed to have been stolen or destroyed by a lone thief at the British Museum.

Items including gold, jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones were among the missing treasures. Sources said the true number could be “closer to 2,000” but may never be known due to gaps in the museum’s inventory. The thefts were discovered during an internal investigation at the London institution.

Scotland Yard was alerted in early January but the museum only made the concerns public last week. A senior curator, Peter Higgs, 56, was sacked in July. He worked at the museum for 30 years, and denies wrongdoing, his family said. British Museum director Hartwig Fischer said the museum would “throw our efforts into the recovery of objects”.

The British Museum (AFP via Getty Images)

He added: “This is a highly unusual incident. I know I speak for all colleagues when I say we take the safeguarding of the items in our care extremely seriously. 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.”

The Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police is investigating but no arrests have been made. The museum has started an independent review of security. Former Chancellor George Osborne, chair of the British Museum, said: “The trustees of the British Museum were extremely concerned when we learnt items of the collection had been stolen.

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"We called in the police, imposed emergency measures and set up an independent review into what happened.”

Tom Pettifor