据英国《卫报》报道，当地时间8月16日，大英博物馆发表声明称，大英博物馆库房中的黄金和珠宝文物被盗。目前，负责馆藏的工作人员已经被解雇，伦敦警察厅已展开调查。
The British Museum dismissed an employee after it found that gold jewelry, gems and glass dating back as far as the 15th century BC were missing from a storeroom.
大英博物馆 图源：视觉中国
博物馆表示，丢失、被盗或损坏的藏品大多为储存在库房里的小件藏品，包括从公元前15世纪到公元19世纪的“黄金珠宝、半宝石和玻璃宝石”。
The majority of the items in question were small pieces kept in a storeroom belonging to one of the Museum's collections. They include gold jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD.
大英博物馆声明
这些藏品近期均未面向公众展出，主要用作学术和研究用途。
大英博物馆馆长哈特维格·费舍尔表示，“这是一起极不寻常的事件。我代表所有同事在此表示，我们极其认真严肃地对待所保管物品的安保工作。”
"This is a highly unusual incident. I know I speak for all colleagues when I say that we take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously. "
藏品丢失的具体时间没有说明，但据大英博物馆董事会董事长乔治·奥斯本的说法，董事会成员在“今年早些时候”得知此事，非常担忧。
奥斯本还表示，“我们目前优先处理三件事：第一，追回被盗藏品；第二，找到阻止类似情况发生的措施；第三，尽一切努力，投入安保和藏品登记工作。”
大英博物馆 图源：视觉中国
另据《纽约时报》报道，关注追回被盗艺术品工作的律师马里内洛在采访中表示，博物馆失窃是世界范围内的“一个大问题”，而且经常涉及工作人员。不过，他补充道，“这种事发生在大英博物馆，是极其尴尬和令人震惊的。”
Christopher A.Marinello, a lawyer who works on recovering stolen art, said in a telephone interview that thefts from museums were "a big problem" worldwide and often involved staff. Still, he added, "for this to happen at the British Museum is extremely embarrassing and alarming."
拥有264 年历史的大英博物馆是伦敦的主要旅游景点之一，馆内藏品超过800 万件，每年有超过600 万人参观。
美国全国广播公司在报道中提到，因为拒绝世界各地要求归还大英帝国时期掠夺的历史文物，大英博物馆曾一度引发争议。这些文物中最著名的包括雅典帕特农神庙雕塑，希腊政府曾多次要求大英博物馆归还。
...the museum has also attracted controversy because it has resisted calls from communities around the world to return items of historical significance that were acquired during the era of the British Empire.
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