British Museum director Hartwig Fischer has announced his resignation following a scandal over antique exhibits being stolen and sold on eBay. Independentreferring to the director’s statement.
He stated that the responsibility of this incident should belong to the director.
“I have submitted my resignation to the chairman of the board of trustees and will be leaving as soon as the board approves an interim leadership deal,” Fisher said.
The director added that he has been analyzing events related to the thefts in recent days. It concluded that its management had not adequately responded to warnings about exhibit theft that emerged in 2021.
According to him, the situation is “extremely serious” but can be overcome.
The museum had previously reported the disappearance of small gold jewelry, jewelry made of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries. An internal investigation was then carried out as a result of Peter Higgs, the former curator of Greek collections. was fired After working at the museum for 30 years. The Higgs family denied allegations that he was involved in the missing property.
The British Museum has filed a lawsuit against an unnamed employee and the investigation is being led by the London Police Department of Economic and Criminal Crimes. The amount of damage was not disclosed, but the number could be £80m ($102m), according to The Times.
The Daily Telegraph states that experts on ancient collections warned the museum about the possibility of the safe being stolen three years ago. These works have been used for scientific purposes and have not been exhibited to the public recently.
Items later stolen from the British Museum collection sold For just £40 ($50) on eBay, one of the largest online marketplaces
Used to use British metal detector to create A 500-year-old ring with a mysterious message.