(Image via msn.com)
Business Manager: Brendan Flaherty
Email: bflaherty1@umassd.edu
Have you ever wanted to solve a real-life mystery like a true adventurer like Indian Jones? Look no further than the British Museum in Montague Pl, London.
Recently, The British Museum reported that over 2000 items were found stolen from their inventory of various sizes and values.
According to CBS News, the museum admitted that “the 264-year-old institution does not have records of everything in its vast collection.”
The missing items range from the smallest jewels to the largest historical objects. They also varied in age, with some of the oldest items up to 3,500 years old.
Although, to say that the museum couldn’t have seen this coming would be a mistake.
According to NBC News, the museum became quite controversial after it “resisted calls from communities around the world to return items of historical significance…”
The items were acquired during the reign of the British Empire. These items caused communities to feel robbed of their personal history.
Although it is still a mystery as to what exactly happened to the missing items, the museum has a slight lead on a possible suspect.
The British Museum recently fired one of its staff after the items went missing, and legal action will be taken against them. As of right now, no arrests have been made.
According to an article from CBS News, former Museum Director Hartwig Fischer has announced his resignation due to his lack of preparation for this theft.
He was warned by British-Danish art historian/dealer Ittai Gradel, saying that the items that belonged to the museum were being sold on eBay back in 2021.
Gradel took to eBay, found three items of interest, and decided to buy one and investigate the other two.
The item that he did buy, according to the same CBS article, was identified as an item from the museum. Looking into the buyer himself, “he found the identity of the seller through PayPal,” the same staff member recently fired.
Could this have been an inside job all along? An ultimate effort by outsiders and staff alike to get the precious art turned into cash for their pockets?
The Museum was unprepared and has now lost many precious artifacts for unknown reasons.
According to an MSN article, Christopher A. Marinello, CEO of Art Recovery International, talked about the situation at the British Museum.
“‘But what sets this apart is that it’s a major museum… …It was quite alarming.’”
He and many others believe that pure arrogance and complacency caused the British Museum to be blindsided like this. They chose not to look into the possible threats because of their status, believing it to be impossible that they could ever be robbed.
By all means, a proper heist where the items of interest have some value, the people involved might’ve had a motive and possibly an inside man.
Now, what is the Museum to do with all these missing items in their hands?
The British Museum has created a new webpage regarding the missing items, asking the public to do the right thing and turn in the missing items.
Their page asks you to simply “contact us at recovery@britishmuseum.org” to notify the museum about any missing item.
They have listed descriptions and images of the missing items of interest, but there is no reward if you return something to the museum.
Marinello argued that the museum should “offer compensation to people who have already bought some,” according to MSN.
It truly is a mystery how the museum could lose so many precious artifacts and only be fully aware of them once it was too late.
This is as close as we’ll ever get to a real-life version of an Indiana Jones film. There is no doubt that a movie will be made about this entire endeavor someday.