Greater than 600 British Empire-era artefacts stolen from Bristol Museum | Arts and Tradition Information

[ad_1] Detectives are interesting for assist after a whole bunch of artefacts documenting British colonial historical past had been stolen.

Police in southwest England say greater than 600 artefacts linked to the historical past of the British Empire and Commonwealth have been stolen from the Bristol Museum’s assortment.

Avon and Somerset Police launched pictures of 4 suspects on Thursday as a part of an enchantment for info.

Investigators say the gadgets, described as having “important cultural worth”, had been taken from a museum storage facility in the course of the early hours of September 25.

Officers haven't clarified why the enchantment is being issued greater than two months after the theft, however say they wish to communicate to 4 males seen within the space on the time.

Bristol Metropolis Council confirmed that the stolen assortment spans medals, badges, pins, jewelry, carved ivory, silverware, bronze figures and geological samples.

Philip Walker, the council’s head of tradition and inventive industries, stated the objects replicate greater than two centuries of Britain’s connections with nations integrated into its empire.

“The gathering is of cultural significance to many nations and supplies a useful document and perception into the lives of these concerned in and affected by the British Empire,” Walker stated.

<img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" class="size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4168323" src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/000_87TK9ZU-1765488698.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C770&quality=80" alt="This handout image of CCTV footage released by Avon and Somerset Police on December 11, 2025 shows men carrying bags in the early hours of September 25 in the city of Bristol. [Avon and Somerset Police/AFP]" fetchpriority="low"/> This handout picture of safety digital camera footage launched by Avon and Somerset Police on December 11, 2025, reveals males carrying baggage within the early hours of September 25 within the metropolis of Bristol [Handout/Avon and Somerset Police/AFP] ‘Vital loss’ Detective Constable Dan Burgan, who's main the investigation, stated the theft “is a big loss for town”.

“These things, lots of which had been donations, type a part of a group that gives perception right into a multilayered a part of British historical past, and we hope that members of the general public may also help us to convey these accountable to justice,” he stated.

Bristol’s previous is carefully tied to the transatlantic slave commerce. Earlier than the abolition of the commerce in 1807, ships crusing from town forcibly transported not less than half 1,000,000 Africans into slavery.

Income from that system helped finance the elegant Georgian structure that also stands throughout Bristol in the present day.

The museum’s broader assortment consists of materials from Pacific islands, historic clothes from African nations, in addition to images, movie, private papers and audio recordings.

In keeping with its web site, these things provide “insights into numerous lives and landscapes throughout a difficult and controversial interval of historical past”.

The town made headlines internationally in 2020 when antiracism protesters pulled down a statue of Seventeenth-century slave dealer Edward Colston and threw it into the River Avon. The statue was later recovered and positioned on show in an area museum.