1,000 Artifacts Stolen from U.S. Museum Four Days Before Louvre Heist

Theft Occurs at External Storage Facility
of Oakland Museum in California

It was belatedly revealed that more than 1,000 artifacts were stolen from a local museum in California, USA, just four days before the theft of royal jewels from the Louvre Museum in France.

According to CNN and the Los Angeles Times on the 31st (local time), a theft occurred in the early morning of October 15 at an external storage facility of the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA). According to the museum, no staff members were working at the external storage facility on the day of the incident, and it was not until the following morning, October 16, that they discovered the artifacts were missing.

Exterior of the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA). OMCA website

The major stolen items reportedly include Native American baskets, jewelry, ivory or horn carvings, and necklace pieces by artist and metalsmith Florence Resnikoff. In addition, a significant number of 20th-century historical memorabilia, such as campaign badges and sports trophies, were also taken.

Lori Fogarty, the museum director, stated on the 30th, "This is not just a loss for the museum, but a loss for the public and the local community," and appealed to residents for help in recovering the artifacts. She added, "It appears this incident was a crime of opportunity, not a targeted art theft," explaining, "The thieves found a way to break into the facility and took items that were easy to steal."

The Oakland Police Department is working with the FBI Art Crime Team to search for the missing items. John Romero, former head of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Commercial Crimes Division, told the Los Angeles Times that since two weeks have already passed since the incident, many of the stolen items may have already been sold.

The Oakland Museum of California is a museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural sciences of California, housing over 2 million artifacts in more than 10,000 square meters of gallery space.

Meanwhile, this is not the first theft at the museum. According to the Los Angeles Times, in 2014, a man in his 40s was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing a 19th-century gold jewelry box from the Oakland Museum and reselling it.