The British Museum in London revealed on Wednesday the “highly unusual” theft of pieces from its collection, including jewelry and semi-precious stones dating back to the 15th century BC, which led it to fire an employee and seize the police. “The trustees of the British Museum were extremely concerned to learn earlier this year that items from the collection had been stolen,” George Osborne, chairman of the museum known for having the Stone of Rosette or Parthenon Marbles.
He assured that the priority was to “find the stolen parts” and that concrete measures had been taken: “We seized the police, imposed emergency measures to reinforce security, set up an independent investigation in order to know what happened and learn from it, and we have used all the disciplinary powers we have in relation to the person we hold responsible”.
“Small parts” that were kept in the reserves
According to the museum, the majority of the objects which “have disappeared, been stolen or damaged”, are “small pieces” kept in the reserves, which have not been exposed to the public recently and serve “mainly for research purposes “. “This includes gold jewelry, semi-precious stones or glassware dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD,” it says.
“This is a very unusual incident,” museum director Hartwig Fischer said in the statement. “The museum apologizes for what happened, but we have put an end to it,” he said. He specified that experts outside the museum participated in the identification of missing or damaged pieces. “This will allow us to make every effort to find them,” he promised.
Lawsuits launched against the fired employee
The museum said it has taken legal action against the fired employee. In addition to the independent investigation launched into the incident, the London Metropolitan Police Financial Crime Section has been taken up with the case. Founded in 1753, the British Museum is one of the most prestigious museums in the world and one of the most visited attractions in the United Kingdom. Its collections, with eight million pieces, include Egyptian mummies, African sculptures or pottery from the Roman Empire.
The museum has found itself in controversy in recent years because of the origin of certain pieces recovered (looted according to critics) by the United Kingdom during the colonial era, which are the subject of restitution requests, such as the marbles from the Parthenon claimed by Athens or bronzes from Benin.
Despite the willingness displayed by the museum management to reach an agreement with the Greek authorities, the British government is firmly opposed to any return of the 75-meter frieze detached from the Parthenon, acquired according to him legally by the diplomat Lord Elgin. The law very strictly regulates any transfer of the pieces of the British Museum.