bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

The British Museum said Wednesday that it had dismissed a staff member and alerted the police after items from its collection were found to be “missing, stolen or damaged”.
The items included gold jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from 15th century BC to the 19th century, it said in a statement.
“This is a highly unusual incident,” said Hartwig Fischer, director of the museum in central London, which is best known for housing collections that include the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon Marbles.
“We take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously,” he said.

“The museum apologises for what has happened but we have now brought an end to this – and we are determined to put things right.”
The museum said legal action would now be taken against the former employee, and an investigation was under way headed by the economic crime unit of London’s Metropolitan Police.
Most of the items affected were described by the museum as “small pieces kept in a storeroom belonging to one of the museum’s collections”.
None had been on recent public display and they were kept mainly for academic and research purposes, it added, without elaborating.
Chinese-Canadian translator calls out British Museum over use of her work
Fischer said security had been tightened and outside experts had been brought in to help compile a “definitive account” of what was missing, damaged or stolen.
“This will allow us to throw our efforts into the recovery of objects,” he said.
George Osborne, chairman of the British Museum, said its trustees were “extremely concerned when we learned earlier this year that items of the collection had been stolen”.
He said the priority was to recover the items, find out what could have been done to prevent the thefts, and “do whatever it takes, with investment in security and collection records, to make sure this doesn’t happen again”.

Here are 5 stolen items still held by the British Museum: pic.twitter.com/8t4C1jGasZ
— AJ+ (@ajplus) August 13, 2023

Founded in 1753, the British Museum is one of the most famous galleries in the world, with a collection of around 8 million objects, including ancient artefacts such as Egyptian mummies.
But in recent years the museum has faced increasing pressure to address the contested items in its collection, which were acquired during the era of the British Empire.
This includes one of the museum’s prized exhibits, the Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles, which Greece insists should be returned.
The sculptures were taken from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin and have been held by the British Museum ever since.


Russia launches ‘massive attack’ on Ukraine power grid despite ongoing US-led peace talks

As traditional US allies hedge their bets, will China be the one to cash in?

India’s trade blitz seeks to keep a sinking global order afloat

US accuses China of secret nuclear testing, day after offer of arms treaty with Beijing

Britain

British Museum sacks employee over ‘missing, stolen or damaged’ items

Visitors gather outside the The British Museum in central London. Photo: AFP

Visitors are seen in the Great Court after the British Museum reopened in London in December 2020 after a pandemic lockdown. Photo: AFP

Egyptians urge British Museum to return famous ancient artefact Rosetta stone

The Rosetta Stone at the British Museum, in London. Thousands of Egyptians are demanding its return. Photo: AP

The British Museum in London currently exhibits the Rosetta stone and sys Egypt’s government has not submitted a request for its return. Photo: Xinhua

UK, Greece holding ‘secret talks’ over treasured Elgin Marbles

Visitors admire the sculpture of the ancient Greek Parthenon’s Elgin Marbles Metopes in the British Museum. Photo: Getty Images

Ancient bronze vessel looted from Old Summer Palace in 1860 returned to China

The ceremonial vessel dates back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771BC) and has miniature tigers on its spout, handle and lid. Photo: Handout

新華社照片，北京，2018年12月11日 流失海外文物青銅「虎鎣」重回祖國 12月11日，中國國家博物館研究院名譽院長孫機（前）在現場講解青銅「虎鎣」相關知識。 當日，國家文物局劃撥中國國家博物館青銅「虎鎣」入藏儀式在北京舉行。圓明園文物青銅「虎鎣」於今年4月被英國一拍賣機構拍賣，在買下青銅「虎鎣」後，境外買家通過拍賣機構聯繫國家文物局，希望將文物無條件捐贈。 經鑒定，青銅「虎鎣」為西周晚期文物，頂蓋內鑄有「自作供鎣」銘文，因其精美獨特的造型、罕見的虎形裝飾而具有重要的歷史、藝術和文化價值。 新華社記者 李賀 攝

News

World

Europe

These included gold jewellery, semi-precious gemstones and glass dating as far back as 15th century BC
Police are investigating, and the museum says it will take legal action against the employee


These included gold jewellery, semi-precious gemstones and glass dating as far back as 15th century BC.


Crime

Archaeology and palaeontology