London, Thanasis Gavos

Of the more than 1,800 objects stolen from the British Museum, 351 have been recovered from the London institution and a further 300 or so have been located.

This information comes shortly before the Museum announces the findings of an independent investigation into how the objects were stolen, likely within the week.

At the same time, as reported by the Times, the Museum is seeking subpoenas to gain access to data on the online transactions through which many of the stolen items were sold.

It is believed that the sellers of the items, via eBay and PayPal, made a total of under 100,000 pounds, with some of them even being bought for as little as 30 pounds. The primary estimate, based on the historical significance of the items, was that they might have changed hands for millions of pounds.

What has been established is how the stolen items have been scattered in many regions of the world, Europe, America and Australia.

The team to locate the stolen goods is currently being led by the museum’s curator of ancient Greek and Roman exhibits, Tom Harrison, and the Metropolitan Police’s art and antiquities unit. The team also includes experts from various organizations and countries.

A total of 1,500 items were stolen and also parts of another 350, such as gold from jewelery. Most of these 350 are believed to be unrecoverable as the perpetrators likely melted down the precious metals to sell.

There are also 140 objects that remain in the Museum, but have been damaged by tools.

It’s mostly about gems and jewelry, but the British Museum believes that small fragments of Greek sculptures or vases have probably also been stolen, as the Times writes. The thefts took place in the warehouses with the items not on display.

Among the measures already taken by the new interim director of the Museum, Sir Mark Jones, is the ban on anyone entering the warehouses without an escort and the speeding up of the digitization of the catalog of the collections.