UK museum heist: Rare Indian treasures among 600 artefacts stolen
Around 600 artefacts were stolen in a high-value heist at a UK museum, with several rare Indian pieces among the missing items. The burglary targeted Bristol Museum's British Empire and Commonwealth collection, which preserves objects and personal memorabilia documenting life across colonial territories.
New Delhi: The UK’s Bristol has witnessed a "high-value” burglary involving the theft of around 600 artefacts from the Bristol Museum’s British Empire and Commonwealth collection. Significantly, several of the stolen items include Indian artefacts dating back to the British Empire.
Among the most valuable pieces are an ivory Buddha and a waist-belt buckle believed to have belonged to an East India Company officer. These donated items form an important part of the museum’s collection, which documents the layered and complex legacy of the British Empire.
What is significant about the artefacts?
Officials have not disclosed why the public appeal is being issued more than two months after the burglary. The museum states that the British Empire and Commonwealth collection contains household objects, photographs, papers, and personal souvenirs donated by British individuals who lived or worked across colonial territories.
The purpose of the collection, the museum says, is to illuminate the workings of the British Empire and highlight the everyday lives of those who lived under it. The stolen artefacts are particularly important as they help communities "explore difficult, forgotten, or hidden histories from their own perspectives.”
Much of the collection was originally held by the former British Empire & Commonwealth Museum in Bristol. The wider archive includes around 2,000 items in its film collection, featuring material dating from the 1920s to the 1970s, including notable amateur footage from India and several African nations.
Avon and Somerset police seek public assistance
The burglary occurred on September 25 between 1 am and 2 am. CCTV footage captured grainy images of four suspects at the site. Police said all four appeared to be white males. One was seen wearing a white cap, black jacket, light trousers, and black trainers; another wore a grey hooded jacket, black trousers, and black trainers; a third suspect was seen in a green cap, black jacket, light shorts, and white trainers; and the fourth—described as a large-built man—wore a two-toned orange and navy/black puffer jacket, black trousers, and black-and-white trainers.
The Avon and Somerset Police have appealed to the public for help in identifying the suspects and recovering the stolen artefacts.