[1/3] An employee poses as he views examples of the Parthenon sculptures, sometimes referred to in the UK as the Elgin Marbles, on display at the British Museum in London, Britain, January 25, 2023.
REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Around 2,000 artefacts including gold jewellery and gems had been stolen from the British Museum over a long period of time, but recovery efforts were already under way, the museum's chair George Osborne said on Saturday.
Museum director Hartwig Fischer said on Friday he would step down after admitting to failings in its investigation into the theft of items from its collection.
A "forensic" inquiry was being conducted to find out what had been stolen, Osborne said.
"We've already started to recover some of the stolen items," he added, without giving any details of what had been recovered or how.
Persons:
Toby Melville, George Osborne, Stone, Hartwig Fischer, Osborne, we're, I'm, Paul Sandle, David Holmes
Organizations:
Elgin, British Museum, REUTERS, BBC, Police, Thomson
Locations:
London, Britain, British