The British Museum, the country’s most popular tourist attraction, was partially closed to the public on Saturday after a fired employee broke in and shut down computer systems, museum management said.
The central London museum, which attracts almost 6 million visitors a year, closed its temporary exhibitions and part of its permanent collection after Thursday’s alleged attack.
“An IT contractor who was fired last week broke into the museum and took down several of our systems,” the museum said in a statement Friday. “The police intervened and he was arrested on the spot.
“We are working hard to get the museum back to full operation, but regrettably our temporary exhibitions have been closed today and will remain closed throughout the weekend. Ticket holders have been alerted and refunds have been offered. “
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The Metropolitan Police said officers were called on Thursday evening “to reports that a man had entered the British Museum and caused damage to the museum’s security and IT systems”. It says a man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage. He has been released on bail while investigations continue.
The 266-year-old museum has had some difficult years. The organization is still trying to track down some of the more than 1,800 items believed to have been stolen by a former curator and offered for sale online. Peter Higgs, who worked for 30 years in the museum’s Greece and Rome department, was fired in July 2023 and is being sued by the museum. He denies the allegations.
The museum’s director, Hartwig Fischer, resigned in August 2023, acknowledging that the institution’s leadership had failed to heed warnings that objects including gold jewelry, semi-precious stones and antiquities dating back from the 15th century BC, were stolen from his collection and sold on eBay.
The museum, which is full of treasures from around the world, is also facing growing pressure to return objects from other countries during the period of the British Empire – including the Parthenon Marbles, 2,500-year-old sculptures that were removed from Athens in the early days of the British Empire. 19th century by the British diplomat Lord Elgin.
Greece has campaigned for decades for the marbles to be returned. The British Museum is prohibited by law from returning the sculptures to Greece, but its directors have spoken with Greek officials about a compromise, including a long-term loan.
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