The British Museum was alerted more than two years ago to the possible theft or disappearance of valuable artifacts when an art historian became suspicious about objects for sale on eBay.
However, the museum’s director, Hartwig Fischer, said on Friday that he did not treat the whistle-blower’s warning seriously enough and announced his resignation as investigators figure out what happened to be hundreds of missing pieces, including gold jewelry, semi-precious gems and antiquities dating to the 15th century BC.
“It is evident that the British Museum did not respond as comprehensively as it should have in response to the warnings in 2021, and to the problem that has now fully emerged,” Fischer said in a statement. “The responsibility for that failure must ultimately rest with the director.”
Photo: Reuters
The museum fired a staff member more than a week ago and said legal action would be taken against that person. London’s Metropolitan Police are investigating and the museum has ordered an independent review of security as well as a “vigorous program to recover the missing items.”
Most of the items were small items kept in a storeroom and none had been on display recently, the museum said.
The 264-year-old British Museum is a major London tourist attraction, drawing visitors from around the world. Its collection includes the Rosetta Stone that unlocked the language of ancient Egypt, scrolls bearing 12th-century Chinese poetry and masks created by the indigenous people of Canada.
The museum has also attracted controversy because it has resisted calls from communities around the world to return items of historical significance that were acquired during the era of the British Empire. The most famous of these disputes include marble carvings from the Parthenon in Greece and the Benin bronzes from west Africa.
“We want to tell the British Museum that they cannot anymore say that Greek (cultural) heritage is more protected in the British Museum,” Despina Koutsoumba, head of the Association of Greek Archeologists, told the BBC this week.
Fischer’s announcement included an apology to the whistle-blower, Ittai Gradel, a British-Danish art historian and dealer.
Gradel said that Fischer had done the right thing by stepping down and he accepted his apology. However, he said deputy director Jonathan Williams should also resign, adding that Williams had assured him that a thorough investigation found no improprieties.
The museum said on Friday that Williams would step aside during the independent review.
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