"I couldn't help myself. I was attracted by the beauty."

"I couldn't help myself. I was attracted by the beauty." Quote from longtime Victoria and Albert Museum curator on the theft of over 2000 pieces from the collection between 1944 and 1953. The theft, discovered in 1953 and kept confidential is now just being reported after Freedom of Information Act requests by the Independent UK.

Cahil Milmo of the Independent UK reports Senior managers at the museum were shocked when the string of thefts was discovered late in 1953, the documents make clear. In his statement to police, Peter Floud, Nevin's boss and head of the Circulation Department, the part of the museum responsible for external loans, said: "His duties involved moving, handling, sorting and checking museum objects. As a result of the war years, when stocks were being moved into shelters and then back to the museum, a great deal of sorting was necessary.

"Nevin was employed on this work. He was entrusted with keys to showcases and cupboards, and as a trusted servant of the museum, he was allowed to work mainly without supervision in the checking and sorting of exhibits."

Armed with his set of keys, Nevin set about systematically removing items that caught his fancy, including a Spanish engraved flintlock blunderbuss which he hid in the eaves of his attic and a collection of rare watches, which found a new home wrapped in canvas in his toilet's cistern.

The disappearing loot was finally spotted when a stocktake in 1953 began to reveal a list of missing items with which Nevin was the only employee known to have worked. Police were called to the small house the museum worker shared with his wife Mary, 9 Nightingale Close, Chiswick, in March 1954 and rapidly set about dismantling the treasure trove inside.

Nevin served three years in prison for the theft and claims all stolen property was returned to the museum.

To read the full Independent article, click HERE.