'It's like stealing history'
September 19 2012
Picture: FBI
Did you know that the FBI has its very own Art Theft division? I didn't, and it has an impressive website too, regularly updated with news stories and a 'top ten art crimes' list. They say, rightly, that stealing art is 'like stealing history':
Art and cultural property crime—which includes theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking across state and international lines—is a looming criminal enterprise with estimated losses running as high as $6 billion annually.
To recover these precious pieces—and to bring these criminals to justice—the FBI has a dedicated Art Crime Team of 14 special agents, supported by three special trial attorneys for prosecutions. And it runs the National Stolen Art File, a computerized index of reported stolen art and cultural properties for the use of law enforcement agencies across the world.
Here in the UK, the Met has its own art theft site, with a good database of stolen and recently returned items.
