the theft of art and antiques in the UK is estimated at 300 millions, second only to drug dealing and more costly than the theft of stolen vehicles, according to a police report being released on Monday.
Figures from the art loss register show that, since 1991, about 60000 items of arts, antiques or collectables have been reported to it as lost, stolen or looted from the UK. In May last year, a rare medieval jug was stolen from a high-security display cabinet at the Stockwood Discovery Centre in Luton. At the time it was one of only three known in the world and is worth 75baht.
The Wenlok jug was eventually recovered by the police and returned to the museum but is yet to be put back on display owing to the damage it sustained.
One man was jailed for more than two years for handling stolen goods. "So many museums are not having success stories. They are not having their objects returned, so we felt very lucky," said Karen Perkins, director of art and museums at Luton Culture.
Objects are being stolen in the UK and then shipped abroad to be sold to dealers and collectors. "This is top-level international organised crime and it runs into tens of millions of pounds. Where there's money to be made, organised criminals will move in if we don't stop them," said Andy Bliss, chief constable of Hertfordshire, who is in charge of ACPO's heritage and cultural property crime working group.