The police in southwestern England are searching for four people in connection with the theft of more than 600 artifacts from a museum’s British Empire and Commonwealth collection, in what the authorities described as a “high-value burglary.”
The police appealed to the public on Thursday for information on four men wanted for questioning in relation to the robbery, which occurred in the early hours of Sept. 25 at the Bristol Museum.
They did not specify the type of items that were stolen. The museum’s website says the collection consists of “household belongings, souvenirs, photographs and papers of British people who lived and worked in the colonies” from the late 19th century to more recent decades. That includes 2,000 films and 500,000 photographs.
Such thefts have gained heightened public attention since a group of thieves broke into the Louvre Museum in Paris on Oct. 19 and made away with royal jewels valued at about $100 million. Several people have been arrested over that heist, including four who have been charged with criminal conspiracy.
In Britain, more than 1,800 artifacts from the British Museum’s collections were stolen or damaged in 2023, and hundreds were sold on eBay, according to court documents. The museum has since sued a former curator, whom it accuses of the thefts. The curator, Peter Higgs, has disputed the accusations.
In the Bristol Museum case, the police said in a statement that between 1 and 2 a.m. on Sept. 25, “a group of four unknown males gained entry” to the building that houses the museum’s British Empire and Commonwealth collection.
The Bristol Museum; the Bristol City Council, which oversees the museum; and the police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Tess Felder is a London-based editor in the Culture department of The Times.
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