The British Museum announced the firing of a staffer – revealed to be Peter Higgs – after the loss and damage of numerous Greek artifacts.
On Wednesday, the British Museum made a public announcement, revealing that many items from its collection were found to be missing or damaged, earlier this year. As per the museum, most of the works in question were gold, glass, and semi-precious works from the 15th to 19th century. They were also not on display at the museum and were kept solely for academic purposes. The announcement also revealed that the employee accused of this mishap was not only fired, but the museum is also seeking to press criminal charges against them.
After the incident became public, the British Museum ordered an independent investigation into the matter, as well as into the security protocols in the museum. The investigation would be headed by Sir Nigel Boardman (former trustee at the museum) and Lucy D’Orsi (chief constable, British Transport Police). Hartwig Fischer (Director of the museum) also expressed deep regret over the issue and issued an apology.
While the British Museum did not reveal the name of the perpetrator at the time, it was soon revealed to be veteran curator Peter Higgs. Separate investigations by the Times of London and the Daily Telegraph revealed that Higgs was involved in stealing uncategorized objects from the museum and selling them on eBay. Some of such items were actually categorized and helped trace the sales to Higgs. Peter Higgs has been a part of the British Museum for over 30 years.
While the hunt for the missing objects is on, experts fear that it might already be too late. Christopher Marinello (CEO, Art Recovery International) said that the thieves in most such cases are amateurs looking for a quick buck. Hence, there are high chances that the thieves might have simply melted/broken the objects to recover molten gold and stones from them.
