The British Museum has announced the recovery of nearly 350 stolen artifacts out of the 2,000 pieces that were pilfered.
This announcement came during a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday, October 18th, as reported by the museum’s director, George Osborne.
The theft of these artifacts in August had caused immense embarrassment to the world-renowned institution.
Consequently, Hartwig Fischer, the museum’s director since 2016, resigned promptly following the revelations.
The stolen items comprised small, unexhibited pieces, jewelry, semi-precious stones, and glassware that were kept in the museum’s reserves. These items mostly constituted the vast majority of the Greek and Roman sections of the British Museum, according to museum authorities.
In late September, the museum had issued a public appeal for assistance in locating the stolen artifacts and posted images online of items resembling some of the hundreds of stolen coins.
Osborne further explained that multiple measures had been taken to conceal the thefts, including alterations to documents. The museum, in mid-August, had stated that it had dismissed one of its staff members.
Meanwhile, the London police had interviewed an individual without disclosing his identity but had not taken any legal action.
Mark Jones, acting director of the museum, emphasized that access to the treasures had changed significantly after the thefts.
On Wednesday, the museum also unveiled plans to enhance access to its collections and make everything documented and viewable online, in a project expected to take five years.
