British Museum Details Extent of stolen and damaged objects

Four months after the British Museum fired a curator suspected of stealing gems, jewelry and semi-precious stones, the London institution released further information on Tuesday about the fate of the missing objects.

Officials believe that approximately 1,500 artifacts have been stolen or otherwise missing from the Greek and Roman stores, the museum said in a news release. Another 350 objects were damaged, the statement said, including gold being removed. Those gold parts were “probably beyond recovery,” the museum said, and were likely sold to scrap dealers.

Another 140 objects still in the museum’s possession “have been damaged by tool marks,” the press release said.

Of the 1,500 missing objects, just over 350 have been returned, a British Museum spokeswoman said in an interview. An additional 300 items had been identified, but those items had not been recovered.

The spokeswoman said all returned items came from Ittai Gradel, a rare gem dealer who first alerted the British Museum to the losses in 2021, but his concerns were dismissed. Previously, Gradel had purchased a number of items before realizing they belonged to the museum.

The spokeswoman said the museum estimates the thief made only about 100,000 pounds (or $125,000) by selling the artifacts through websites including eBay, based on the items’ listings. Further details about the missing items could not be released due to an ongoing police investigation, she added.

The British Museum has provided regular updates on its investigation since announcing the thefts in August. In October, George Osborne, chairman of the museum, and Mark Jones, interim director of the museum, unveiled a five-year, $12 million project to improve the British Museum’s administration.

On Tuesday, the museum also released some details of an independent investigation into the thefts, by Mark Boardman, a senior attorney; Ian Karet, a British judge; and Lucy D’Orsi, a police officer.

The review’s key recommendations on how the museum can improve its security have not been made public, but by the British Museum published 36 other suggestions on its website. These include improvements to the museum’s policies and management procedures, including more frequent inventory checks.

Osborne, who declined an interview request, said in the news release that he had accepted all of the review’s recommendations. The British Museum was “our own house in order,” he added.