The British Museum in London has sacked a member of staff and police are investigating after treasures were reported “missing, stolen or damaged”.

Items including gold, jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones were among those found to be missing, stolen or damaged.

The majority of the items were kept in a storeroom, the museum said.

British Museum director Hartwig Fischer said the organisation had “brought an end to this”.

He added: “This is a highly unusual incident. I know I speak for all colleagues when I say that we take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously.”

Legal action will be taken against the staff member who was fired, the museum added.

The Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police is investigating.

The British Museum has also started an independent review of security.

George Osborne, chair of the British Museum, said: “The trustees of the British Museum were extremely concerned when we learnt earlier this year that items of the collection had been stolen.”

He added: “We called in the police, imposed emergency measures to increase security, set up an independent review into what happened and lessons to learn, and used all the disciplinary powers available to us to deal with the individual we believe to be responsible.”

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