Ths week I received an announcement that HOPS (Heritage Operations Processing System,
hops.org.uk) has added a register of stolen items for the Heritage sector. Hopefully this will aid collectors, and auctioneeers etc., to identify stolen items more easily. Let's hope that it helps a few more stolen items be recovered - although of course this only helps where the buyers are honest & well-meaning, or the sales channel takes care to check whether items are stolen, but it's a start. And of course, if you are considering buying something do please check the register first!
Sadly heritage buildings (like many industrial premises) can be hard to secure to modern standards, at least without affecting the heritage nature of the place. And as noted above, the items have value even as scrap, let alone as collectable artifacts. Whilst there are things "worth" stealing, sadly some people will think it's OK to do so & not care about the impact on others.
