A member of workers on the British Museum has been sacked after jewelry and gems from its assortment have been discovered to be “missing, stolen or damaged”.
In a press release, the museum in London stated the gadgets included “gold jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th Century BC to the 19th Century AD”.
The majority have been “small pieces kept in a storeroom belonging to one of the museum’s collections”, officers stated.
They have been primarily used for tutorial and analysis work and none had just lately been on public show.
The museum stated will probably be taking authorized motion towards the unnamed workers member and the Metropolitan Police’s financial and crime command is investigating.
“This is a highly unusual incident,” stated director Hartwig Fischer.
Security has already been tightened, he added, and the museum is “working alongside outside experts to complete a definitive account of what is missing, damaged and stolen”.
Former trustee Sir Nigel Boardman and British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi can be main an unbiased assessment and can make suggestions on future safety preparations.
Sir Nigel stated: “The British Museum has been the victim of theft and we are absolutely determined to use our review in order to get to the bottom of what happened and ensure lessons are learnt. We are working alongside the Metropolitan Police.”
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Former chancellor George Osborne, who chairs the British Museum, stated the trustees have been “extremely concerned when we learned earlier this year that items of the collection had been stolen”.
He added: “We called in the police, imposed emergency measures to increase security, set up an independent review into what happened and lessons to learn, and used all the disciplinary powers available to us to deal with the individual we believe to be responsible.
“Our precedence is now threefold: first, to get better the stolen gadgets; second, to seek out out what, if something, may have been performed to cease this; and third, to do no matter it takes, with funding in safety and assortment information, to verify this does not occur once more.”
Content Source: news.sky.com