British Museum Curator Accused of Stealing Ancient Artifacts, Report Says

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British Museum - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 18.08.2023
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On Wednesday, the British Museum said that some of its artifacts had been missing, stolen or damaged, including gold jewelry and gems of semi-precious stones. The museum stated it had dismissed one of its employees and launched an independent investigation into the case.
A former senior curator of Mediterranean culture at the British Museum, Peter Higgs has been revealed as the prime suspect in the scandalous theft of ancient artifacts, UK media reported on Thursday.
Higgs' family believes in his innocence, the report said.

"His name has been completely dragged through the mud and demonized. I believe it was the 5th of July that he was given notice. I think he had been under investigation for a while, but he didn't tell any of us until the day it happened, to be honest," Higgs' elder son told the media.

He said that his father had lost all faith in the museum after the allegations brought against him were made public.

"The one thing he said was that he was really hurt by the fact that even if his colleagues could have supported him, they probably wouldn't be allowed to — that's what he said to me. He probably doesn't want to get his colleagues in trouble," Higgs' elder son was quoted by the outlet as saying.

Meanwhile, an unnamed antiquities expert said that the items stolen from the museum had been offered for sale on eBay since 2016. In 2020, the expert informed the museum about the fact, but the latter did not take any measures, the report said. The expert decided then that the museum "may not be interested in knowing," the media reported.
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