Fifteen Chinese artifacts, most of them jewelry including
hairpins, earrings and fingernail guards dating from between 700 to
1400, were found to have been stolen from the British Museum in
London last Saturday.
They were possibly taken Friday evening, a spokesperson for the
museum told Xinhua in a telephone interview. She gave no estimate
of how much the stolen treasures are worth.
"We don't put financial values on our pieces, but these are
obviously historically important items," she said.
She added that police suspect the case may be linked to the
theft of nine Chinese items worth about 60,000 pounds (about
US$108,000) from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London last
month.
On October 4, thieves smashed a cabinet there and stole three
small cups, two miniature animal figures, a bowl, two small
ornamental plaques and a small ritual cylinder.
Founded in 1753, the British Museum houses one of the world's
greatest collections of antiquities and artifacts, totaling around
seven million items.
The four kilometers of galleries and corridors in the museum are
patrolled daily by a security force and feature a sophisticated
alarm system.
(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2004)