Return it if you find it: British Museum seeks help to recover lost treasures

LONDON (Reuters) – The British Museum launched a public hotline on Tuesday asking for help locating some 2,000 missing artefacts, revealing they were mostly ancient Greek and Roman gems and jewellery.

The museum said last month it had fired a staff member over stolen, lost or damaged items in a crisis that highlighted internal failings and led to its director quit smoking days later.

Home to treasures such as the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon Marbles, the British Museum is home to one of the most visited collections in the world and has since beefed up its security.

Sixty items have been returned, and another 300 have been identified and will be returned imminently, the museum said in a statement.

“If you are concerned that you are or have been in possession of items from the British Museum, or if you have any other information that may help us, please contact us,” said a page on their website advertising a dedicated email address.

The site said it was only revealing the types of stolen artifacts and following experts’ advice not to share all the details.

He said the stolen items included gold rings, earrings and other pieces of jewelry dating back to the ancient Greek and Roman periods, as well as small objects such as gems that were often set in rings.

The museum, which is facing demands from several governments for the repatriation of historical treasures to their countries of origin, said it was working with London police, “actively monitoring” the art market and had registered the missing items in the database. Art Loss Register data.

The museum is also consulting an international panel of experts.

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