![The museum's carelessness has jeopardised its good reputation](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/opinion/2023/08/23/TELEMMGLPICT000346568725_16928133067120_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqg5ozdfdQpDHsa6AO6OAwntrZ8AT8rEjx8lVL6PQ1GCU.jpeg?imwidth=680)
![The museum's carelessness has jeopardised its good reputation](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/opinion/2023/08/23/TELEMMGLPICT000346568725_16928133067120_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqg5ozdfdQpDHsa6AO6OAwntrZ8AT8rEjx8lVL6PQ1GCU.jpeg?imwidth=680)
The British Museum is not only among the country’s most visited tourist attractions but the trusted custodian of a good number of the nation’s most treasured artefacts. It has established a towering international reputation for the breadth of its collection and for academic research.
Yet this has been placed in jeopardy by the extraordinary revelations concerning the disappearance of more than 1,500 items, some of which have been offered for sale online.
While the possibility of criminal activity is being investigated by the police, there are other matters concerning the museum’s administration and governance that need to be addressed.
The management was alerted a few years ago to the appearance in the open market of artefacts that seemed to have come from the museum. Ittai Gradel, a Danish antique dealer, provided information in 2021 that suggested gems from the collections had been put on eBay.
Although the British Museum ostensibly opened an investigation, it reached a swift conclusion that nothing untoward had happened. Now we know this was not the case.
True, all museums are vulnerable to such incidents and are reluctant to admit to them. But the whistleblower gave the British Museum the opportunity to stem the disappearances without publicity. For it to supposedly take no action was a dereliction of duty and has made it harder to argue against demands for the repatriation of important parts of the collection such as the Elgin marbles.
Why are those of accused of ignoring warnings still in post? If they refuse to resign then George Osborne, the museum chairman, should dismiss them for tarnishing the reputation of a great institution.
The British Museum’s embarrassing failure
Carelessness on this scale weakens our claim over treasures like the Elgin Marbles