ALBAWABA - On Saturday, a chief trustee from the British Museum said that the museum has managed to recover 2000 stolen items, but also admitted that the 264-year-old institution didn't have full records of everything in its vast collection.
The head of trustees, George Osborne, acknowledged that the British Museum's reputation had been damaged by its mishandling of thefts it has faced, which led to the resignation of its director, Hartwig Fischer, and raised questions about security and leadership.
Osborne told the BBC on Saturday that the around 2000 stolen items were a "very tentative number", and that staff were working to identify everything missing including gold jewelry, precious stones, and antiquities up to 3500 years old.
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He stated that the British Museum is working with the antiquities community and art restoration experts to recover the artifacts.
"We think we've been the victim of theft over a long period of time, and frankly, more could have been done to prevent it. But I promise you this: this mess we're going to stop."
Museum director, Hartwig Fischer, announced his resignation on Friday feeling responsible while apologizing for not taking the warning seriously.
He felt responsible after seeing an art historian that artifacts from the museum's collection were being sold on eBay. He has held this position since 2016. Deputy director Jonathan Williams also said he was stepping down.
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In early 2021, British-Danish art historian and dealer, Ittai Gradel, contacted the museum bosses to express his suspicions, but they assured him that nothing was amiss.
Osborne stated that they already started to recover some of the 2000 stolen items and that he doesn't believe there had been any deliberate cover-up after the museum previously rejected a warning in 2021 that the thefts were happening.
The British Museum has a long way to go in recovering all stolen items but they stated that they are trying their best to solve the issue.
