The British Museum announced the launch of a website to seek help from the public for the return of the stolen objects.
The museum released on press statement on Tuesday, announcing the launch of the website. At the same time, it also revealed that 60 objects have already been recovered so far. The website lists various jewelry and gems that were stolen from its inventory. They have also set up an email address where people could send tips regarding the stolen objects.
However, the website does not hold details of the entire list of objects stolen from the museum – largely because the British Museum itself is not sure of the number. Reports have revealed that more than 2,000 objects might have gone missing from the museum’s collection, but no exact figure has even been released. This is primarily because only around 4.5 million objects are photographed and inventories, compared to about 8 million total artifacts in its collection.
On August 16, the British Museum announced that a certain number of objects had gone missing from its collection. Soon after, it was revealed that curator Peter Higgs – who was already fired – was responsible for this scandal. The situation was further exacerbated by the revelations that the museum had no idea about how many objects were exactly stolen, or the fact that authorities were warned about the smuggling as far back as 2019.
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Recently, museum chairman George Osborne spoke optimistically about the recovery of the stolen items. However, the theft has left a huge dent in the reputation of the prestigious museum. More scandals have come to light since then – like the acquisition of an Egyptian shabti in 2017 from an art dealer who is now convicted of smuggling.
