Police art unit faces shutdown as officers are switched to Grenfell

A METROPOLITAN police unit that targets art thieves faces closure after detectives were reassigned to the Grenfell Tower investigation.

Three officers from Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiques team were “temporarily” parachuted in to assist the massive operation following the west London tragedy, police said.

But Vernon Rapley, who headed the Metropolitan Police unit for almost a decade, said he had not been given assurances the officers would return to their roles.

The former police chief added he was “worried that the closure of the unit is now being considered”.

Specialising in tackling the theft and fraud of cultural items, the unit is responsible for the London Stolen Art Database – cataloguing the details of 54,000 stolen works.

Mr Rapley told The Art Newspaper: “I am very concerned that the Metropolitan Police is unable to give assurances on when the three detectives who have been temporarily reassigned will be returned to the unit.”

He said the capital needed a “dedicated art squad”, adding: “Losing it now, when cultural heritage is under threat in so much of the world, would represent a very serious loss.”

Units from across the force have been drafted in to help the Grenfell Tower probe after at least 80 people died when fire swept through the building in June.

Police are expected to continue the painstaking process of recovering evidence from the charred building until the end of the year. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which owned the tower, and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which ran it, are being investigated over potential corporate manslaughter offences.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “Three detectives from the Art and Antiques Unit have been temporarily transferred to the team of specialist investigators involved in the Grenfell Tower fire investigation.

“The investigation into the fire is one of the largest in the Met’s history and involves the use of detectives from a range of different units.

“The Met has liaised with key partners of the Arts and Antiques Unit, and is maintaining ongoing relationships with them in this interim period, and will continue to investigate any allegations of crime related to art.”