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People enjoy visiting museums to see displays of wonderful paintings and sculptures. They also enjoy seeing ancient artifacts such as pottery and tools. These works of art are a rich source of information about past civilizations. They teach us about the culture that all humans share.

In this way, the works of art belong to all of us. Museums help preserve human history by collecting works of art. Museums display these items so visitors can see them and learn from them. Sometimes valuable works of art or ancient artifacts are stolen from museum collections. This means the thief is stealing a piece of our history and culture. The thief is stealing from all of us.

THE VALUE OF MUSEUM ITEMS

Most items in a museum collection are valuable because they are unique. A small painting or ancient weapon can be worth millions of dollars. Therefore, museums try to prevent thefts. They use security guards and cameras to watch museum visitors. They secure paintings to the walls with strong wires that cannot be easily cut.

They lock valuable objects in display cases. They use an alarm system that rings if someone removes a painting. If a visitor is caught stealing, police are called to arrest the thief.

STEALING ART

Art thieves know that paintings and ancient artifacts are worth millions of dollars. They see the museum as a source of valuable objects to steal and sell.

Art thieves know that large museums have good security systems. Under those circumstances, they may not try to steal from large museums. They also know that small museums do not have many guards. They often do not have security cameras or alarms. Art thieves believe they can easily steal something from a small museum without being seen. They also know that a painting or small artifact is easy to hide.

A painting can be removed from its frame and hidden under a coat. An ancient bowl can be lifted from a display and put into a pocket.

SELLING STOLEN ART

Stealing a painting or small object may be easy initially. Selling it later is not easy. If a theft is committed, the museum issues a report to local police.

The museum also issues a warning to nearby art dealers. It tells them to watch for the stolen object. However, thieves usually do not try to sell the stolen art right away. Depending on the circumstances, they might wait several years. They hope that art dealers will forget reports about the stolen art. However, if an art work is very famous, dealers will still recognize it.

They will call the police. Often the thieves carry stolen art to another country. There they might pretend to be art dealers who buy and sell works of art. Initially, they might try to sell the stolen item to a small museum or to a person who collects art. They may finally have to sell an item worth millions for just a few hundred dollars.

LOOKING FOR THE ART

Meanwhile, the police try to identify the thieves. They check the museum for evidence, such as fingerprints or a camera photograph. Without evidence, the police do not know who committed the theft. To find the thieves, the police try to find the stolen art. However, most searches are successful. Most stolen art works are never found.

With each theft, we all lose a valuable piece of our history. Art theft is a crime that is committed against all of us.