Museum accused of stealing from other cultures now wants help finding stolen artefacts

Social media users pointed out the irony of the British Museum asking for public help for finding stolen items.

The British Museum has asked the public to help identify and recover ancient artefacts that have gone missing from its collection. Source: AAP / Neil Hall/EPA

Key Points

• The British Museum is asking for public help finding 2,000 stolen items.
• They are mostly ancient Greek and Roman gems and jewellery.
• A hotline has been set up for tips.

The British Museum has launched a public hotline asking for help to locate 2,000 missing artefacts, revealing they were mostly ancient Greek and Roman gems and jewellery.

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

Home to treasures such as the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon marbles, the British Museum houses one of the world's most visited collections and has since tightened its security.

Sixty items had now been returned, with a further 300 identified and due to be handed back imminently, the museum said in a statement.

"If you are concerned that you may be, 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 its website advertising a dedicated email address.

The page said it was only disclosing the types of artefacts stolen and heeding expert advice not to share full details.

The upper part of a sard gem engraved with Sarapis wearing a calatho, 1st-3rd century AD, similar to the items missing from the British Museum's collection. Source: AAP / The Trustees of the British Museum

It said the stolen items included gold rings, earrings and other pieces of jewellery dating back to 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 home countries, said it was working with London's police, "actively monitoring" the art market and had registered the missing items on the Art Loss Register database.

The museum is also consulting an international panel of experts.

In August, Chinese state media called on the British Museum to give back all Chinese relics "free of charge".

The same month, the Greek government renewed calls for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles.

Nigerian officials have also called on the museum to return the Benin Bronzes taken from the Benin kingdom that now lies within its territory.

Social media users pointed out the irony of the museum asking for public help to find stolen items.

"Have they tried looking in the British Museum?" one user posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

"Here’s a map to some stolen artefacts," another user wrote, attaching a picture of a map of the museum.