A gems expert claims he and a colleague turned detective after spotting several items they believed to be part of the British Museum's collection on sale with a private dealer and on Ebay - and contacted the tourist attraction about them.
"The number of items must be quite large because it seems to have been going on for a long time," said Prof Henig.
"I was told there was a junior curator who was in tears because what seems to have happened is that some of the things in order to make that more saleable and less recognised, say a precious object, a gem or something like that in a gold setting, if you take it out of the gold setting, then you can melt down with gold. It has just a scrap value. I think there was a lot of damage done.
He believed the museum had tried to keep the matter quiet to avoid damage to its reputation as one of the world's most prestigious galleries with around eight million items of human art and culture. "It seemed to me to be so similar to what has happened in the Church where a bishop covers things up because he doesn't want to have a scandal," he said.
Danmark Seneste Nyt, Danmark Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også læse nyheder, der ligner denne, som vi har indsamlet fra andre nyhedskilder.
Curator of British Museum for 35 years 'thief who sold priceless items on eBay'Peter John Higgs was based in the institution's Greek section for 35 years and is alleged to have put priceless items on the internet selling at auction.
Læs mere »
Cops launch urgent probe after priceless British Museum artefacts 'vanished'COPS have launched an urgent probe after priceless British Museum artefacts were found to be “missing, stolen or damaged”. The museum said that a worker has been sacked after a number o…
Læs mere »
British Museum boss reveals items have been stolen as staff member dismissedThe matter is under investigation by the economic crime command of the Metropolitan Police.
Læs mere »
Police investigating after British Museum employee sacked over 'stolen' itemsItems include gold, jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th century BC.
Læs mere »
British Museum staff member sacked after jewellery and precious gems 'stolen from storeroom'The museum vowed to launch a 'vigorous programme to recover the missing items', some of which date back more than 500 years
Læs mere »
British Museum boss reveals items have been stolen as staff member dismissed“We called in the police, imposed emergency measures to increase security, set up an independent review into what happened and lessons to learn, and used all the disciplinary powers available to us to deal with the individual we believe to be responsible'
Læs mere »