LONDON – The British Museum, the country's most popular tourist attraction, was partially closed to the public on Saturday after an employee who had been fired broke in and shut down computer systems, museum management said.
The museum in central London, which attracts almost 6 million visitors a year, closed its temporary exhibitions and part of its permanent collection after the alleged attack on Thursday.
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“An IT contractor who was dismissed last week trespassed into the museum and shut down several of our systems,” the museum said in a statement on Friday. “Police attended and he was arrested at the scene.
“We are working hard to get the museum back to being fully operational but with regret our temporary exhibitions have been closed today and will remain so over the weekend — ticket holders have been alerted and refunds offered.”
The Metropolitan Police force 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 said a man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage. He has been released on bail while inquiries continue.
The 266-year-old museum has had a rocky few years. It is still trying to track down some of more than 1,800 objects believed to have been stolen by a former curator and offered for sale online. Peter Higgs, who worked in the museum’s Greece and Rome department for 30 years, was fired in July 2023 and is being sued by the museum. He denies the allegations.
Museum director Hartwig Fischer resigned in August 2023, acknowledging the institution’s management failed to heed warnings that artifacts including gold jewelry, semi-precious gems and antiquities dating to the 15th century B.C. were being stolen from its collection and sold on eBay.
The museum, filled with treasures from around the world, is also facing growing pressure to return artifacts taken from other countries during the period of the British Empire – notably the Parthenon Marbles, 2,500-year-old sculptures that were removed from Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin.
Greece has campaigned for decades for the marbles to be returned. The British Museum is banned by law from giving the sculptures back to Greece, but its leaders have held talks with Greek officials about a compromise, such as a long-term loan.