The series of thefts in the British Museum in London is apparently slowly coming to light: the board of trustees now assumes that around 2,000 objects have been stolen. The house has since returned some of them.
The British Museum in London has recovered some of hundreds of stolen objects from its home, according to the board of trustees. “I can tell you today that we have started to recover some of the stolen items,” BBC chairman George Osborne told the BBC. He spoke of a silver lining on the horizon.
According to him, it is assumed that around 2,000 objects have disappeared. Employees tried to determine what was missing. When asked where items had resurfaced, Osborne replied, “Some members of the antiquarian community are actively collaborating with us.” It will also work with a database of lost and stolen artworks.
Damaged reputation of the museum
The museum assumes that the thefts took place over a long period of time. “Frankly, more could have been done to prevent it,” Osborne said. The former British Chancellor of the Exchequer admitted that the handling of the theft had damaged the reputation of the 264-year-old museum. He apologized and promised they would fix it.
Because of the scandal, the museum director Hartwig Fischer resigned yesterday. In addition, Deputy Museum Director Jonathan Williams announced that he would be on hiatus for the duration of an investigation.
Jewellery, precious stones and pieces of gold were stolen
The British Museum in London owns millions of objects related to the cultural history of mankind. In mid-August, the museum announced that some objects had disappeared from storage rooms. Osborne spoke today of small trinkets, precious stones and pieces of gold that were not on display. Individual pieces are said to be up to 3500 years old.
Large museums have collections that have been put together over centuries. And not all objects are properly cataloged or registered, Osborne said. Someone who knows what is not registered has a great advantage if they want to remove some items. Osborne said the museum needed to speed up its already underway process of creating a complete register of the collection.
Items offered on Ebay
There had already been indications of the thefts in 2021. At that time, an antiques dealer had contacted the museum because he had seen objects on the online auction platform Ebay. These notices are said to have been ignored. A former employee who has already been fired is suspected. Legal action has been taken against him.
Fischer, who also managed renowned German museums, justified his resignation on Friday, among other things, by saying that the museum had not responded to the warnings as comprehensively as it should have. The responsibility for this must ultimately lie with the director, said Fischer according to the announcement. The house wants to look for an interim management until a new director is found.
museum is tourist magnet
The British Museum is one of Britain’s biggest tourist attractions. Six million visitors come every year. Numerous cultural treasures of mankind can be seen in the museum, such as Egyptian mummies and ancient Greek statues.