Over 1,500 items ‘have gone missing’ from British Museum including Roman object worth up to £50,000
MORE than 1,500 objects worth millions are now believed to have been stolen or destroyed by a thief at the British Museum.
Sources said the true number — some of which were up to 3,500 years old — could be “closer to 2,000”.
But it may never be known what exactly has gone due to gaps in the London museum’s inventory.
One Roman object, valued at £25,000 to £50,000, was offered for £40 on eBay.
The thefts were discovered during an internal investigation.
Prof Martin Henig, an expert in Roman art at the University of Oxford, called the scale of the losses “horrifying” and “unforgivable”.
He said: “This is the worst case that I’ve come across like this because it involves not just selling the odd object, but also destruction.”
A senior curator, Peter Higgs, was sacked in July.
He worked at the museum for 30 years, and denies wrongdoing, his family said.
The museum has not put a figure on the number of items stolen, or released photographs or descriptions.
A source said its handling of the case was “negligent and incompetent”.
An independent review hopes to recover the missing items. Police have made no arrests.