22 Indian Artifacts Taken From Museum

Fri., Sept. 1, 2000

From Staff

Burglars disabled security alarms, removed a door at the Maryhill Museum of Art and stole 22 artifacts from an American Indian art exhibit.

Items taken Tuesday night at the museum, a the southcentral Washington tourist destination on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River Gorge, included beaded bags, moccasins and a bone breastplate.

Klickitat County sheriff’s deputies were investigating.

“It was very selective,” said Lee Musgrave, a museum curator. “They broke into very specific cases and took specific pieces.

“It’s impossible to put a financial value on these things.”

After disabling layers of complicated alarms, burglars removed a door and its frame to reach the art works and broke into two cases.

Sheriff Bob Kindler said the museum, about 10 miles south of Goldendale and about 90 miles east of Portland, is patrolled regularly by deputies and the Washington State Patrol.

Musgrave said the burglary could be tied to a string of break-ins at small museums in the West in recent years.

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