Many memorabilia of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore have been stolen at the Tagore Memorial Museum in Bangladesh's Sirajganj district, 110 northwest of capital Dhaka, leading newspaper The Daily Star reported on Saturday.

Nahid Sultana, custodian of the museum was quoted The Daily Star as saying a large number of memorabilia of Tagore were stolen after 1971.

A number of household materials of Rabindranath Tagore like dishes, bathtubs, hookahs, etc have been left in the storeroom of the museum for a long time, she added. Due to shortage of manpower, showcases and space, the Department of Archaeology is unable to display those at the museum, declared an archaeological museum in 1969.

"The museum boasts articles used by Tagore and a few of the poet's paintings," Nahid said.

"The museum needs a library for Tagore research, a guest house, and a parking lot," Nahid added.

She said at least 20 employees are needed for the smooth running of the museum but now there are only 14. The two-storied museum building needs more attention of the Archaeology Department, she added.

Tagore, born in Kolkata of the sub-continent under British rule in 1861, won Nobel Literature Prize in 1913. Bangladesh always treats Tagore as their poet because he was a Bengali and spoke Bengali language and stayed in Dhaka for many years during his life. The first ten lines of Bangladesh's national anthem are from a poem of Tagore.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2008)