Hermitage theft

Russia's famed State Hermitage Museum on Monday reported the theft of more than 220 works, including jewelry and enameled objects, worth around $5 million, an incident that highlighted the poor security at Russian cultural institutions.

The Hermitage -- housed in the ornate Winter Palace of the Russian czars in St. Petersburg, overlooking the Neva River -- said museum employees were likely involved in the thefts.

In a statement, the museum said staff members learned of the missing items during a routine inventory check. When the check started, the curator in charge of most of the collection where the theft occurred died suddenly at his workplace, the statement said. The museum did not identify the curator or say when or how he died. It also did not identify specific items that were stolen

Read the rest here, including this bit of background:

In 1996, customs officials in St. Petersburg detained a Russian tourist heading to New York with three suitcases full of antique books, documents signed by Peter the Great and other Russian czars, and rare drawings and postage stamps.

Some of the books were marked as belonging to the "Imperial Hermitage Library," and the entire haul had an estimated value of millions of dollars.

That same year, an ex-army officer pilfered 200 leather-bound volumes, some dating back centuries and worth as much as $2 million, from Moscow's State Public Historical Library.

Posted by David on July 31, 2006 9:08 PM