Following the British Museum’s announcement in August 2023 that approximately 2000 artefacts had gone missing from its collection, the London institution has concluded its internal investigation – admitting that it had broken UK law by failing to comply with legislation around the care of ‘national treasures’.
Institutions that break the Public Records Act, which asks museums to ‘meet basic standards of preservation, access, and professional care’, risk having their collections transferred to another organisation such as the National Archives.
Since the British Museum has taken steps to audit and retrieve the missing objects, there has been no sign, so far, that its collection will be relocated. At present, more than 600 objects that had gone missing from the museum’s storerooms have been found and returned to the collection, though many of the artefacts are believed to have been illegally sold by the former curator of Mediterranean art, Peter Higgs, who, it was revealed last summer, had spent years stealing priceless objects from the British Museum’s collection.
The museum continues to appeal to the public for its help in tracking down the remaining objects.
