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Theft (known in some jurisdictions as stealing) is in general unlawfully taking someone else's property. In law, it is usually the broadest term for a crime against property. It is a general term that encompasses offences such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, and sometimes criminal conversion. Legally, theft is generally considered to be synonymous with larceny.

In the common law theft is usually defined as the unauthorised taking or use of someone else's property with the intent to deprive the owner or the person with rightful possession of that property or its use.

As with other common law crimes, it is composed of two elements, the actus reus — the unauthorized taking or use — and the intent to deprive — the mens rea. Thus if one goes to a restaurant and by accident one takes someone else's hat or scarf instead of one's own hat or scarf, one has deprived someone of the use of their property and has taken the other person's property in an unauthorized manner, but without the intent to deprive the person (hum, this is a much nicer scarf than mine or he'll never notice the spot on the hat until he gets home) there is no criminal act (actus reus) and thus no crime. Note that there may be civil liability, by depriving someone of their property you may be liable for damages in a civil court, but without proof of your intent to deprive, no criminal act has occurred.

See also: motor vehicle theft, software theft, laptop theft, list of thieves


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Art Theft - Most Wanted Art
Search for the world's most wanted art.
http://www.saztv.com/

Price of Age
An electronic dissertation on the illicit trade of antiquities by Andrew Cranwell.
http://www.museum-security.org/cranwell/index.html

Object ID
Site describes rationale, use and contacts for Object ID, an international standard for describing art, antiques and antiquities to combat theft.
http://www.object-id.com/

Stolen Property or Finders Keepers?
Dede Tisone-Bartels provides teacher's resources for considering the true ownership of works of art which have been taken from their place of origin to museums and collections around the world.
http://home.att.net/~tisone/problem.htm

Looting Question Bibliography
Hugh Jarvis lists Internet and published resources on the archaeological politics of private collecting, commercial treasure hunting, looting.
http://wings.buffalo.edu/anthropology/Documents/lootbib.html

Stolen Stones: The Modern Sack of Nineveh
Looting of Iraqi archaeological sites since the Gulf War. Illustrated feature by John M. Russell in Archaeology includes clickable map of the throne room suite.
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/nineveh/index.html

Sources of Information on Antiquities Theft
Librarian provides a bibliography and list of Internet resources on theft of antiquities.
http://home.earthlink.net/~robbinsls/theft/

Art Theft from Cyprus to Munich
Archaeology magazine feature article by Mark Rose on the looting of frescoes, mosaics and icons from churches in Northern Cyprus
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/cyprus/index.html

Swiss Recover 10,000 Stolen Antiquities
Archaeology magazine feature article by Andrew Slayman on one of the largest recoveries of stolen art treasures.
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/geneva/index.html

The Art Loss Register
Operates a permanent international database of stolen and missing works of art, antiques and valuables, to assist law enforcement agencies in the battle against art theft.
http://www.artloss.com/

Find Stolen Art
Database aiming to assist UK police in the recovery and return of stolen antiques and to enable auction houses, collectors and dealers to exercise due diligence.
http://www.findstolenart.com/

Looting Matters
Studies by Christopher Chippindale and David Gill of the University of Wales Swansea on the material and intellectual consequences of collecting antiquities, with related links.
http://www.swan.ac.uk/classics/staff/dg/looting/

Britain Leads Illicit Trade in Rare Books
The Guardian reports that Britain has become the centre for criminal traffick in ancient manuscripts and historic books.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4201560,00.html

Holy Door of the Monastery of St. Anastassios
Human Rights Action pleads with the Kanazawa College of Arts in Japan to return an 11th-century iconic door looted from Cyprus. Includes photograph.
http://www.hr-action.org/action/kanazawa.html

Michel van Rijn
Dutch former art dealer and smuggler who has collaborated with police against the illicit art trade. Includes a 'Swindler's list' of art theft news; synopsis of his book Hot Art and Cold Cash.
http://www.michelvanrijn.com

Stolen Antiquities from Corinth Return to Greece
The Hellenic Ministry of Culture rejoices in the recovery of the priceless collection of artifacts stolen from the Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth in 1990. Illustrated catalogue.
http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21104m/e211dm07.html

Illicit Antiquities Research Centre (IARC)
At University of Cambridge to research and highlight damage caused by looting of archaeological sites. Publishes periodical Culture Without Context. Information on latest news, events, information, legal conventions, resources.
http://www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk/IARC/home.htm

NYTimes.com - Thwarting Art Thieves on a Budget
Discusses problems of art theft during business hours and how museums and other facilities have responded.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/29/arts/design/29ARTS.html

Gang Caught with 200,000 Artefacts
Giles Tremlett reports in the Guardian that Spanish police have captured 100 archaeological robbers in an operation that netted a vast haul of antiques up to 5,000 years old.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4464605,00.html

Museum Security Network: Art Crime
News reports of cultural property incidents, such as art theft, looting of art in wartime, fire and forgery worldwide.
http://www.museum-security.org/artcrime.html

Kolomoki Mounds State Historic Park
Includes photographs of Native American Kolomoki burial pottery stolen in 1974 from a museum in the State of Georgia, US, with a request for information.
http://www.geocities.com/kolomokistatepark/

BBC: Stolen Turner Paintings Found
Two Turner paintings from the Tate galleries' collection, stolen while on display in Germany eight years ago, are found.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2593487.stm

Stolen Art
This Belgian initiative aims to assist the police in Belgium and elsewhere in the recovery and return of stolen antiques. Register stolen art pieces. Newsletters.
http://www.stolenart.be

Trace
UK magazine in which stolen stolen art, antiques, collectables can be advertised. Or register their details on the ACTS database. Service, bulletin, becoming a partner, information resources.
http://www.trace.co.uk

Seeking Return of George Rufus Boynton Painting
Seeking information on the theft of an oil painting of Mary Junius Boynton, by American portrait artist George Rufus Boynton, ca. 1906.
http://members.aol.com/missingart/portrait.htm

International Archive of Stolen Artefacts
A database with close-up photographs of objects. An independent resource dedicated to the retrieval of stolen artefacts through maximum publicity.
http://www.iasa-online.com



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