OAKLAND — At least one person stole more than 1,000 items from a storage facility containing artifacts belonging to the Oakland Museum of California earlier this month, authorities said Wednesday.
Police and the FBI were investigating the heist, which happened just before 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 15 at the facility. Police did not give a location for that facility.
In a statement, Oakland police said they may dealing with one suspect or many. The items included Native American baskets, jewelry and other unspecified artifacts.
“The theft that occurred represents a brazen act that robs the public of our state’s cultural heritage,” Oakland Museum of California Executive Director and CEO Lori Fogarty said in a statement. “Most of these objects have been given to the Museum by generous donors.”
Fogarty said museum officials are working with the FBI and police detectives “to see that those objects are returned.”
Police urged anyone with information to contact the Oakland Police Dept. Burglary Section at 510-238-3951 or the FBI Art Crime Team at tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-225-5324.