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The Avon and Somerset Police force said the items with
“significant cultural value” were taken from a storage building
in the early hours of Sept. 25.
The force said it wanted to speak to four men over the theft and
appealed to the public for information.
It was unclear why the appeal was being made more than two
months after the crime.
Bristol City Council said the stolen items include medals,
badges and pins, necklaces, bangles and rings, decorative items
such as carved ivory, silver items and bronze figurines, as well
as geological specimens.
Philip Walker, the council's head of culture and creative
industries at Bristol City Council, said the stolen items are
part of a collection that documents two centuries of links
between Britain and the countries that once formed its empire.
“The collection is of cultural significance to many countries
and provides an invaluable record and insight into the lives of
those involved in and affected by the British Empire,” Walker
said.
Det. Constable Dan Burgan, the investigating officer, said the
theft “is a significant loss for the city.”
“These items, many of which were donations, form part of a
collection that provides insight into a multilayered part of
British history, and we are hoping that members of the public
can help us to bring those responsible to justice.”
The port city of Bristol, 120 miles (195 kilometers) southwest
of London, played a major role in the trans-Atlantic slave
trade. Ships based in the city transported at least half a
million Africans into slavery before Britain outlawed the slave
trade in 1807. Many 18th-century Bristolians helped fund the
trade and shared in the profits, which also built handsome
Georgian houses and buildings that still dot the city.
It was the focus of international attention and debate in 2020,
when anti-racism demonstrators toppled a statue of 17th-century
slave trader Edward Colston from its plinth in the city and
dumped it in the River Avon.
The vandalized statue was later fished out and put on display in
a museum.
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