Stealing from the British Museum: How, why, who?

Save
2 years ago
2
british museum the british museum the india exhibit british museum british museum stolen artifacts british museum london british museum stolen the british museum in london stolen chinese artifacts british museum british museum theft british empire museums

Imagine having so many rare and invaluable objects in your possession under the gaze of curators, world experts, security personnel, and cameras, and failing to spot that more than 1,500 objects worth millions of pounds have been stolen, damaged and destroyed.

The British Museum - the receptacle for some of the most wondrous artefacts in the world - is facing this crisis, with some of the stolen goods being more than 3,500 years old.

To make matters worse, objects have reportedly turned up on eBay at a fraction of their worth. The BBC has reported that an art dealer alerted the British Museum to alleged stolen items more than two years ago but was told "all objects are accounted for”.

So how could so many items go missing, why would someone steal from the museum, and who is it thought to be? Newsnight’s Insight & Investigations Editor Joe Pike reports.

Loading comments...