Just days after a brazen burglary at the famed Louvre museum in Paris garnered international media attention, someone broke into a storage facility belonging to the Oakland Museum of California and made off with more than 1,000 items, police said Wednesday.
Oakland Police Department officials said they are working with the FBI’s Art Crime Team to investigate a burglary at the off-site storage facility that took place at about 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 15.
The thieves made off with jewelry, laptops and Native American baskets, among other things, according to police.
“The theft that occurred represents a brazen act that robs the public of our state’s cultural heritage,” said Oakland Museum of California executive director Lori Fogarty. “Most of these objects have been given to the Museum by generous donors. We are working in close partnership with the city of Oakland, the Oakland Police Department, and the FBI to see that these objects are returned.”
Anyone with information can call the OPD Burglary Section at (510) 238-3951. People can also contact the FBI Art Crime Team or 1-800-CALL-FBI.
The FBI Art Crime Team is a highly specialized unit of about 20 agents tasked with investigating art theft, forgery, or, as in this case, antiquities and cultural property trafficking, police said in a news release.
Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.