Greece demands antiquities return after British Museum thefts

A museum employee allegedly stole over 2,000 valuable items over several years, auctioning many of them on eBay

Greece has renewed calls for the UK to return the iconic Parthenon Marbles that were removed from Athens in the 19th century after it emerged last week that the British Museum had fired an employee for allegedly stealing over 2,000 valuable pieces and selling them.  

“We want to tell the British Museum that they cannot any more say that Greek culture heritage is more protected in the British Museum” than it is in Greece, Despina Koutsoumba, director of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, told the BBC on Wednesday.   

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni agreed that the theft “reinforces the permanent and fair demand of our country for the definitive return and reunification” of the sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles after the British Lord Elgin who removed them from the Acropolis. 

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Tim Loughton, chair of the all-parliamentary group on the British Museum, bristled at what he called the “blatant opportunism” of the Greeks. “It’s incredibly rare that things go missing,” he told the BBC, arguing that the thefts were not “the heist of the Mona Lisa.”   

The museum admitted last week that an unnamed number of items were missing, stolen, or damaged and fired Peter Higgs, a senior curator and Greek artifact expert with 30 years on the job. It is reportedly taking legal action. 

Police have apparently been investigating the thefts since the beginning of the year, but have not made any arrests. Art dealer Ittai Gradel warned the British Museum in 2021 that he had purchased several items online that he recognized from the institution’s catalog – only to have his concerns brushed aside by its deputy director Jonathan Williams, who insisted there was “no suggestion of any wrongdoing,” claiming the “collection was protected.” 

Gradel allegedly bought about 70 of the antiquities on eBay starting in 2014 and resold them for much higher amounts before tipping off the museum, returning some of the items, and sending investigators after his buyers. He has called for Williams and museum director Hartwig Fischer to be fired.  

Fischer, who announced his resignation last month, claimed Gradel had been less than forthcoming about his purchases, explaining that it was only after the museum began a full audit of its collection a year after the dealer’s warning that staff realized there was a problem.  

The museum has still not revealed the extent of the losses, but media reports suggest as many as 2,000 items are missing, potentially worth millions.

Fischer made headlines in 2019 for declaring that Elgin’s removal of the marbles from Athens was a “creative act” and that they would not be returned. Greece has long been fighting in and out of courts to regain the priceless artifacts.

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