Priceless British Museum items stolen ‘may already be melted down’ expert warns

It is thought around 3,000 priceless items were taken from museum storeroom, ranging from 15th century BC to 19th century AD

A member of staff at the British Museum in Bloomsbury has been fired after the thefts came to light (PA Archive)

The British Museum has said it is "determined to retrieve as many items as possible" after a large-scale storeroom theft, despite concerns priceless objects have already been lost or melted down.

It is thought around 3,000 priceless items were taken from a storeroom, ranging from 15th century BC to 19th century AD, the museum has said, revealing legal action could follow.

But the management told the Independent it does not have concerns over its staff after it sacked an employee following what is speculated to be an inside job.

A spokesperson for the museum said it is “determined to retrieve as many items as possible” although it did not disclose the exact nature of the items or how many had gone.

Have you been affected by this story? If so email william.mata@independent.co.uk

The museum is working with the Metropolitan Police to investigate and track down the items, which include small pieces of gold jewellery, semi-precious stones and glass.

But Christopher Marinello, a lawyer and founder of Art Recovery International, fears it may be too late.

“That is the great shame of these criminals, they don’t think of this priceless quality, they think of quick cash,” he told the Telegraph. “They will tend to melt down gold as quickly as possible, and have the gems recut. Look at the Henry Moore statue that was melted down for the value of the raw metal.”

Mr Marinello, who has worked for 30 years in tracing stolen antiques, added: “There is no thought of art – criminals are unsophisticated in this sense. That is the great tragedy of these incidents.”

George Osborne, museum chairman, has expressed his concern (PA)

It is understood the items were not on public display and account for only a small proportion of the museum’s eight million plus items.

No arrests have been made but the museum has said there will be extra security on show with a full review in the works - although the BM has declined to comment on the nature of the security.

“We have identified an individual who we believe is connected and they have been dismissed,” a statement added. “This is now the subject of a criminal investigation and we therefore cannot comment further at this point.”

Asked if the museum had concerns about its staff, the spokesperson said “no”.

George Osborne, chairman of the British Museum, said: “The trustees were extremely concerned when we learnt earlier this year that items of the collection had been stolen.

“The trustees have taken decisive action to deal with the situation, working with the team at the museum.

“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.”

The Metropolitan Police declined to comment further.