The British Museum is considered one of the most important museums in the world. Now it has become known that several objects have been stolen from a storage room – apparently by an employee. A “highly unusual incident,” according to the management.
The British Museum in London laments the loss of several objects. Items from the collection have disappeared, been stolen or damaged, the museum management said. A former employee is suspected. “A staff member has been fired and the museum will now take legal action against the individual,” the statement said.
The majority of the items involved were small pieces kept in a storage room in one of the museum’s collections. Among other things, it is about gold jewelry, jewels made of semi-precious stones and glass – some from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD. None of the objects had been in the exhibition recently, the objects had been kept primarily for research purposes.
“Determined to make things right again”
“This is a highly unusual incident,” said museum director Hartwig Fischer. We take the protection of the objects extremely seriously. “We are determined to put things right again.” The German announced just a few weeks ago that he wanted to give up his post next year. It is not yet clear who will succeed him.
The British Museum is considered one of the most important museums in the world. It houses some of the most important cultural treasures of mankind. These include a significant portion of the Parthenon sculptures, the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies.