London’s British Museum has recovered some of the 2,000 treasures stolen from its storerooms after a bungled internal probe that led to the resignation of its embattled director.
“We have already started to recover some of the stolen items,” said the museum’s chairman George Osborne in an interview with the BBC Saturday.
“We believe we have been the victim of thefts over a long period of time and frankly more could have been done to prevent them,” Osborne said, alluding to an investigation launched in 2021 by Hartwig Fischer, the director of the museum for the last eight years.
Fischer, who was slated to resign next year, abruptly left his position at the storied museum on Friday, days after a museum employee was fired under suspicion of looting its storerooms, the BBC reported.
“Over the last few days I have been reviewing in detail the events around the thefts from the British Museum and the investigation into them,” Fischer said in his resignation statement. “It is evident that the British Museum did not respond as comprehensively as it should have in response to the warnings in 2021, and to the problem that has now fully emerged. The responsibility for that failure must ultimately rest with the director.”
Antiquities and other treasures stolen from the British Museum over the last few years are being recovered, according to the chairman of the museum’s board or trustees. Getty Images
The British Museum opened its door to the public in 1759. In recent years hundreds of treasures that the institution held in storage have been appearing for sale on eBay. Getty ImagesFischer was first non-British director of the museum which opened in 1759.
The stolen items included pieces of gold jewelry and semi-precious stones dating from the 15th century B.C.E. to the 19th century.
A senior curator was blamed for the theft.
A man has been interviewed by London’s Metropolitan Police but no arrests have been made.
London’s Metropolitan Police said they had made no arrests in the theft of 2,000 items that had been stolen from the British Museum. PA Images via Getty ImagesSome of the treasures were discovered when a Dutch antiquities dealer alerted the museum after spotting objects from its collection for sale on eBay.
Some of the stolen items, valued at more than $62,000 were being sold on the resale platform for as little as $50, according to the museum.
British Museum Deputy Director Jonathan Williams has agreed to voluntarily step back from his normal duties until the independent review into the thefts at the Museum has concluded, the Museum said in a statement Friday.
