Family of British Museum employee sacked after artefacts theft protest his innocence

The son of a British Museum curator sacked after artefacts were stolen, vanished or were damaged says his father is devastated.

The London museum, which houses items from around the world, said on Wednesday it had launched an independent review of security and that a staff member had been dismissed. The stolen items include jewellery made of gold, semi-precious stones and glass dating from 1,500BC to the 19th century.

Peter Higgs, a curator who worked there for 30 years, has now been identified by his family as the member of staff.

His son, Greg Higgs, told The Telegraph his father’s name had “been completely dragged through the mud and demonised”.

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“He’s with family currently for a bit of support because it’s been very hard, losing half of our income pretty suddenly,” he told the newspaper. “At this point he doesn’t even really care what people think of him, he just wants a chance to live a normal life.

“It gets to that point sometimes where even if you’re innocent you’d just rather not have everyone speak to you all the time about it, at least from the museum. He’s lost all faith in the museum,” he added.

Mr Higgs explained that his father loved his job and was “amazing” at it, but that he “hasn’t been doing great” since the investigation began.

As well as being the museum’s head of the department of Greece and Rome, Mr Higgs was one of the museum’s “Monuments Men”, a team that tracks down looted artefacts and returns them to their home countries or puts them on display in London.

He is understood to be an eminent expert on antiquities who has written books to accompany some of the museum’s large-scale exhibitions.

The British Museum says it cannot comment as the Metropolitan Police investigation is active. No one has been arrested in connection with the alleged thefts. The museum has not confirmed which of its eight million artefacts have gone missing but it has been reported the number could be in the thousands.

A picture seen on Peter Higg’s Facebook page of a mask

(Sourced)

Items had reportedly been going missing for several years although it is understood they were items in storage rather than those generally seen by the public at the tourist attraction.

On Wednesday, the museum’s director Hartwig Fischer apologised for the missing artefacts, explaining “we are determined to put this right” and ready to “throw our efforts into the recovery of objects”.

Chairman of the museum, George Osborne, said the trustees were “extremely concerned” by the incident and “used all the disciplinary powers available to us to deal with the individual we believe to be responsible”.

The British Museum said it had dismissed a member of staff after items were found to be missing, stolen or damaged

(AFP)

The former chancellor said: “Our priority is now threefold: first, to recover the stolen items; second, to find out what, if anything, could have been done to stop this; and third, to do whatever it takes, with investment in security and collection records, to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

“This incident only reinforces the case for the re-imagination of the museum we have embarked upon. It’s a sad day for all who love our British Museum, but we’re determined to right the wrongs and use the experience to build a stronger museum.”

Mr Higgs and his son have been contacted for comment.

At the former curator’s home in Hastings, East Sussex, a grey 54-plate Nissan Micra in the drive and a dog barking inside were the only signs of life.

Mr Higgs has not been seen there for a few days, neighbours said, and there was no answer at the front door.

Curtains in the front room were drawn but a light could be seen in an upstairs bedroom. The home is in a quiet, well kept street in a well-to-do area of the town.

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