September 3, 2000
CONTENTS:
- Re: Burglars steal artifacts (Steve Keller)
- BEIRUT IN TRANSITION; Development vies with archaeology in post-war Lebanon
- Archeological site bombing injures 3
- State Wants Mountain Meadows Artifacts Returned to the Grave
- Mafia moves in as Pompeii gets GBP.25m facelift
- Tax Sum Settled for Stolen Art (the Quedlinburg case)
From: IntlArtCop@aol.com
Date sent: Sun, 3 Sep 2000 00:42:19 EDT
Subject: Re: Burglars steal artifacts
To: securma@xs4all.nl
In a message dated 9/1/00 4:58:20 AM, securma@xs4all.nl writes:
After disabling layers of complicated alarms, burglars removed a door and its
frame to reach the artworks and broke into two cases. "They ripped the entire
door off,"
I have no information about the theft reported on in your recent post but I
wanted to comment on it because when I read something like this it upsets me
very much. If I had a dollar for every time I was told that burglars must be big
time high tech criminals because they disabled complicated layers of alarms or
some such claim, I'd retire.
People, please understand that it is very very difficult to disable layers of
complicated alarms if they are done according to industry standards. Installing
a system to industry standard is not too much to ask! In my over 21 years in
museum security, I know of only one case in a museum where the alarm system was
truly defeated by means I and others have not been able to understand. Alarm
systems installed to UL standards are darn hard to beat without first beating
the humans who operate them or without having inside help.
And I can also say that I have never seen anyone in a museum theft disable
"layers" of complicated electronic security.
Whether this museum's alarm system was really good or was junk remains to be
seen. It appears that this museum felt their alarm system is good. Was it a
quality system? Was it properly serviced and operating as it should? Was it
extensive enough to provide the level of coverage needed? Did the alarm company
sell the museum a bill of goods? All these issues need to be addressed.
There Is one issue however that could effect all of us, however. It IS
possible for a reasonably capable burglar including a teenage hacker or
novice electronics hobbyist to defeat an alarm system's phone line to the
central station. It used to be that a Grade "C" digital dialer (as rated by
Underwriters' Laboratories) was not perfect but good enough. This is not so
today. Someone with basic knowledge and a few bucks to spend at Radio Shack can
beat 80% of the museum alarm systems because they don't have what is now called
"Protected" line security or what used to be Grade "AA". If they are far enough
away from the central station that they feel it is too costly to have this
higher , more expensive level of line security, they should at least have a back
up system. And most museums are totally unaware of what back up systems are
acceptable and which ones are not. In nearly every instance where museums has
inadequate line security, it is purely an economic decision. They make a bad
decision not to spend the money it takes to properly supervise the line to the
central station.
I urge every museum to obtain and read the "Suggested Guidelines for Museum
Security" published by ASIS. It sets the standard for line security in museums
and for obtaining an exemption for lower line security.
While few people ever defeat a properly installed burglar alarm, they do
defeat the line security. The standard is readily available to all of us but
most museums have chosen to ignore it. Make sure yours is not one of those or
when a theft occurs, don't claim that someone defeated your complex multi
layered system. They simply used low tech means to defeat a good system that was
improperly monitored, usually because the museum had other priorities.
In the case of stolen Indian items, if local law enforcement people are
reading this, I suggest that you look regionally for small time crooks who
steal, not for private collections as was stated in the news reports, but for
the antique market and eBay auctions. I collect American Indian artifacts and am
amazed at the amount of stuff on internet auctions that is questionable. Big
time international art thieves don't steal the museum's collection box contents.
I don't intend for this post to reflect negatively on anyone or to imply that
this is how or why the theft occurred. But if museums don't get a lot more
concerned about their alarm systems, expect a lot more of these small museum
thefts.
Steve Keller
Museum Security Consultant
BEIRUT IN TRANSITION
Development vies with archaeology in post-war Lebanon
BY JAMES WISEMAN
How do you provide for the permanent protection of ancient remains once they
have been unearthed? Such remains are particularly vulnerable in times of armed
conflict, since the protection of antiquities is an unlikely first priority of
people being shot at. Today, this is a serious issue for archaeologists in
Lebanon, where civil war raged for 15 years between Muslim and Christian forces
until 1990. At Beirut's Archaeological museum, some antiquities had been encased
in concrete to protect them. The museum itself, severely damaged by artillery
and small-arms fire, has reopened with artifacts on display in modern cases; as
we admired its handsomely renovated facade, armed soldiers stood nearby. There
would be other reminders on my recent visit to Lebanon of threats to the
preservation of ancient monuments--indeed, of entire archaeological sites......
full story:
http://www.archaeology.org/curiss/abstracts/insight.html
Archeological site bombing injures 3
By Arieh O'Sullivan
Police believe that an explosion yesterday at an isolated archeological site
near the Green Line was caused by a terrorist pipe bomb.
full story:
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/08/30/News/News.11546.html
State Wants Mountain Meadows Artifacts Returned to the Grave
BY CHRISTOPHER SMITH
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Six buttons and some broken crockery removed from the burial site of Mountain
Meadows massacre victims last year should be placed back in the grave rather
than retained by the LDS Church, state antiquities officials have concluded.
full story:
http://www.sltrib.com/08312000/utah/17984.htm
Mafia moves in as Pompeii gets GBP.25m facelift
John Follain, Rome
MAFIA dons do not usually stroll among ancient ruins, guidebook in hand. But the
gangsters who plague the bay of Naples are showing an unhealthy interest in the
remains of the ancient city of Pompeii. Italian investigators fear the Camorra,
the local branch of the mafia, is turning its attention to the popular tourist
destination, lured by the GBP.7m a year in entrance money paid by its 2.5m
annual visitors and proposed public works.
A mysterious fire burnt for four hours last month on the western edge of the
archeological site, threatening the Villa of Ifigenia, believed to have served
as a jewellery shop in ancient Pompeii. Although a hectare of land was spoilt,
the ruins were spared.
Officials initially dismissed the episode as an accident, probably caused by a
cigarette. A few days later, however, it emerged that paraquat, a highly
inflammable weedkiller banned from use among the ruins, had been sprayed along
the city's two-mile perimeter. A team of anti-mafia magistrates was summoned.
"This has all the characteristics of blackmail," said Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio,
the agriculture minister. "All you need is a match and you can start a fire that
would put in jeopardy the ancient Roman villas and frescoes. I point the finger
at the Camorra."
Fire is the mafia's usual way of tackling businesses that refuse to give in to
extortion rackets. Most eventually pay up. According to one estimate published
last week, 50% of shops and businesses in the city of Naples pay protection
money.
Investigators believe that the Camorra's interest has been aroused by plans to
spend GBP.25m on improvements at the site that will include a new reception
centre and archeological digs. Another GBP.66m donation is expected from a
Californian foundation to restore the ruins of nearby Herculaneum, also buried
in the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79 that covered Pompeii.
The money is much needed: of the 64 monuments, villas and houses in Pompeii that
were open to the public in the 1950s, only 16 can be seen from the inside today.
Poor tourist facilities, fading frescoes, crumbling stone walls and the
proliferation of unauthorised tour guides and stray dogs prompted one Italian
magazine to refer in a headline to "the last days of Pompeii".
In an attempt to keep the gangsters at bay, rules to ensure that anybody bidding
for contracts must be vetted by police have been tightened.
Amato Lamberti of the Camorra Observatory, which monitors mafia activities, has
given a warning that keeping the criminals out is all but impossible.
"Racketeering is endemic," he said. "It is very difficult to find a company that
does not pay bribes or respond to blackmail."
It would not be the first time that criminals have tried to cash in on Pompeii.
Police are looking into a scam over entrance fees and the payment of 200 people
for staffing the cloakroom during a recent arts festival held there.
Giuseppe Gherpelli, the official brought in as Pompeii's administrative director
two years ago with the task of rooting out corruption, is not surprised.
"When I prepared the details of the first work contract for the management of
the parkland, I left them on my computer overnight," he said. "The next morning
I found someone had hacked into it and changed the sums involved.
"I suppose the fire means that someone doesn't like what we're up to. We've got
a lot of work left to do."
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/
Tax Sum Settled for Stolen Art
NEW YORK (AP) - Two siblings have agreed to pay $135,000 in taxes, penalties and
interest to settle a decade-long dispute over priceless religious artwork their
brother stole while stationed in Germany during World War II, The New York Times
reported.
Jane Meador Cook, 66, and Jack Meador, 80, were accused of trafficking in stolen
goods after they tried to sell some of the objects brought home after the war by
their late brother Joe T. Meador from a mine he had been assigned to guard where
Germans stored hidden religious artifacts.
Among the items was the ``Samuhel Gospels,'' a ninth century manuscript written
in gold,'' which Cook and Meador sold in 1990 for nearly $3 million.
The Meadors, who both live in northeast Texas, agreed to return the remaining
works to Germany, but were allowed to keep about $2.7 million from the sale of
the manuscript.
Criminal charges were thrown out because the statute of limitations had expired,
leaving only the tax case. The settlement was reached April 20 in federal tax
court, but was not publicly announced, The Times reported.
``It was a very favorable settlement,'' said tax lawyer Don Lan, who represented
the heirs and provided details of the settlement.
Until recently, the government had been seeking $8.6 million in federal taxes,
$2.1 million in penalties and more than $40 million in interest from the
siblings.
Thomas R. Kline, a Washington lawyer who represented the German government in
its efforts to recover the treasures, called the settlement ``a slap on the
wrist.''
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Read LYNN H. NICHOLAS' review of William H. Honan' book about the Quedlinburg
hoard TREASURE HUNT
at:
http://museum-security.org/quedlinburg-hoard.htm
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