Indian artefacts among 600 colonial-era items stolen from British museum

UK police on Thursday said that more than 600 high-value artefacts, including pieces from India, were stolen during a night-time burglary at a Bristol museum.

 

In a statement, the Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that several artefacts linked to India’s colonial history were among hundreds of items taken from a building housing the Bristol Museum’s British Empire and Commonwealth collection.

 

The break-in took place on September 25, between 1 am and 2 am earlier in the year. The police have now released grainy CCTV footage showing four white male suspects moving around the site.

 

“Detectives investigating a high-value burglary of museum artefacts are appealing for the public’s help to identify these people,” the statement read.

 

 

It further said that the men “gained entry to a building in the Cumberland Road area of Bristol,” where they removed more than 600 items described as valuable and culturally significant.

 

Police added that officers “wish to speak to the four people pictured as they believe they will be able to assist with enquiries,” and urged anyone who recognises them to come forward.

 

What items were stolen?

 

Reports indicate that the stolen items span a wide range of categories.

 

A PTI report said that an ivory Buddha and a waist-belt buckle belonging to an East India Company officer were among the pieces taken.

 

According to the BBC, the burglars removed military memorabilia, jewellery, natural history items and carved ivory, bronze and silver figurines from storage.

 

The report, citing officials familiar with the archive, further said that the building was targeted twice, with the second raid accounting for 95 per cent of the loss.

 

Most of the artefacts originally formed part of the now-defunct British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, whose wider holdings include an extensive film archive of around 2,000 items. The collection features material recorded between the 1920s and 1970s, including significant amateur footage from India and several African nations.

 

Paris museum theft

 

Earlier this year, in October, Paris witnessed a daytime heist at the Louvre Museum, where thieves used a basket lift, power tools and scooters to remove 19th-century French Crown Jewels worth €88 million in under eight minutes.

 

While arrests were later made, most of the jewels remain untraced.