Culture Ministry following developments at British Museum ‘very carefully’
The Culture Minister has said that her ministry is following developments at the British Museum “very carefully” after it emerged that the London institution’s curator of Greek collections, Greek sculpture and the Hellenistic period was sacked after the disappearance of precious objects.
“The facts as recently announced by the British Museum are extremely sad and particularly serious. The Culture Ministry is following the development of the issue very carefully,” said Lina Mendoni.
The British Museum said Wednesday that a member of its staff had been dismissed earlier this year after items dating back as far as the 15th century BC were found to be missing, stolen or damaged.
British media subsequently named the sacked employee as Peter Higgs, a senior curator who worked at the institution for 30 years.
The British Museum houses the Parthenon Sculptures. Greece has consistently called for the permanent return of the sculptures, which British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the Acropolis in the early 19th century when he was the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. [AMNA, reports]
