Resignation follows series of robberies

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【Summary】British Museum director Hartwig Fischer resigned after a series of thefts occurred at the museum. The museum admitted to not acting appropriately on warnings about missing items. The stolen artifacts included gold jewelry and gems dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century. Fischer took responsibility for the failure and stated that the museum did not respond adequately to the warnings. Security measures have been tightened, and efforts are being made to recover the stolen objects.

FutureCar Staff Aug 25, 2023 10:19 AM PT

The Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles, are currently exhibited at the British Museum in London. The museum's director, Hartwig Fischer, recently resigned, acknowledging that the museum had not acted appropriately in response to warnings about missing items. The British Museum is renowned for its extensive collections, including the famous Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon Marbles.

Last week, the museum announced that it had dismissed a staff member and reported the situation to the police after discovering that certain artifacts from its collection were either missing, stolen, or damaged. These items consisted of gold jewelry, semi-precious stones, and glass dating back to the 15th century BC to the 19th century.

Although the London Metropolitan Police revealed that they had interviewed a man in connection with the case, no arrests had been made at the time. Fischer, a German art historian, decided to step down immediately due to procedural failures that allowed the items to be taken. He took responsibility for the museum's shortcomings and acknowledged that their response to the warnings in 2021 had been inadequate.

Leaked emails obtained by the BBC suggested that an antiquities dealer had alerted the museum about the sale of these items on eBay in 2021, but the museum reportedly ignored the report. The majority of the affected items were described as small pieces stored in a museum collection's storeroom, primarily intended for academic and research purposes.

Prior to his resignation, Fischer mentioned that security measures had been enhanced, and external experts had been brought in to compile a comprehensive inventory of the missing, damaged, or stolen objects. The primary goal was to recover these items and determine what could have been done to prevent the theft. The museum's chairman, George Osborne, expressed deep concern and emphasized the need to invest in security and collection records to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

The British Museum, founded in 1753, is internationally renowned and houses approximately eight million objects, including ancient artifacts like Egyptian mummies. However, in recent years, the museum has faced mounting pressure to address the issue of contested items in its collection, which were acquired during the British Empire era. One highly debated example is the Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles, which Greece insists should be returned. These sculptures were taken from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin and have been in the possession of the British Museum ever since.