[MSN] Daytime theft from Science Museum in London (display case smashed)

[msn-list at te.verweg.com]

Museum thief spirits away old crystal ball
By Adam Fresco

 
A RARE 16th-century crystal ball that belonged to a maverick consultant to
Elizabeth I has been stolen from the Science Museum in London. 
A man dressed in a long leather coat smashed a display case on the fifth
floor and ran down flights of stairs and out of the museum before he could
be caught by security guards. 
 
The crystal ball, thought to be worth £50,000, was used by mediums and for
curing disease. It belonged to John Dee, philosopher, mathematician and
astrologer, who lived between 1527 and the turn of the 17th century. Dee
became an authority on “angel magic” and beliefs that man had the potential
for divine power. 

The thief also took a statement about the ball’s use by the pharmacist
Nicholas Culpeper, written on the reverse of ancient deed manuscripts in the
mid-1600s. The theft happened on Thursday afternoon. Detectives are
investigating whether the items were stolen to order. 


The Science Museum may be forced to shut in the New Year. The unions
Prospect and PCS are to ballot on strike action after rejecting a 2.5 per
cent pay increase as “derisory” and saying that funding problems were making
it difficult for the museum to operate.