“More than £300m of Art Being Stolen in Britain Each Year”

By Graeme Paton via “The Telegraph“

“Theft of art and antiques is now second only to drug dealing as the most lucrative trade for organised criminal gangs across the UK, according to senior police officers.  More than £300 million of art is being stolen each year amid an escalating criminal trade in paintings and antiques, it has emerged. Thieves often target works on display in museums, libraries, archives and private collections and have been known to use extreme violence,the BBC reported. In one case last year, a rare medieval jug was stolen from a high-security display cabinet at a museum in Luton. The Wenlok jug – worth £750,000 – was eventually recovered and a man was jailed for more than two years for