The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Scottish castles fall to thieves as historic artefacts are stolen
Crime: Figures show at least £10,000 worth of items have gone missing
Thieves have stolen artefacts and property worth thousands of pounds from Scotland’s most historic buildings.
Castles built to be the strongholds providing security from invading armies have fallen victim to modern day crooks.
Latest figures released under Freedom of Information laws reveal 48 items have been taken from attractions including Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle and Doune Castle, in Perthshire, in the last three years. Thieves managed to make off with two heavy “Forest of Dean stone” carvings from Dunkeld Cathedral in 2016.
At least £10,000 worth of goods has been stolen, the statistics from Historic Environment Scotland (HES) show, but the body was unable to provide a value for many of the historical items.
In 2015, two medieval carved head stones were stolen from Dryburgh Abbey in Newtown St Boswells, near Melrose, in the Borders.
One of the sculptures, which depicted a female wearing a headdress with a crimped collar that runs under her chin, is more than 800 years old.
Police Scotland launched a number of appeals following the theft but the items have never been recovered.
A number of items of Roman pottery stolen from Melrose Abbey in May of the same year remain missing.
The items, which had been dug up within the abbey’s grounds, are believed to have been made by the Romans from 80-180 AD and were described as being of “significant historic importance”.
The popularity of historical fantasy TV series Outlander resulted in two rings inspired by the show being stolen from Edinburgh Castle. The silver bands were available for tourists to buy at the castle’s shop.
Of all the items stolen in 2015, 2016 and 2017, none have been recovered by police or castle staff. In 2012, HES set up a taskforce with police and amateur enthusiasts to crack down on the growing problem of crime at historic sites.
Heritage chiefs consulted with police officers and insurance companies to reduce the levels of crime being committed at historic sites, while creating an “early warning” network to target criminals who are breaking into properties and ransacking them.
A spokeswoman for HES said: “The safety and security of the historic sites in our care is paramount, and while incidences of theft across our estate are rare, any such occurrence is fully investigated, with our security procedures subject to regular review.”