Moment art thief swipes 350-year-old map from London museum

Police are still looking for a rare map after a prolific art thief cut it out of a book and smuggled it out of a London museum.

Melvin West, 73, was caught on camera slicing up an antique atlas and pocketing a map after asking to view it at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich on February 26 last year.

Staff raised the alarm after finding a knife left on the ground in the room West had been reading the 350-year-old book containing 12 historic maps.

The missing page was a celebrated example of a double hemisphere world map, printed in 1684 and called Nova Orbis Tabula, by seventeenth-century Dutch cartographer Frederick de Wit.

The map is famous for its elaborate artwork, zodiac signs, and cherubs and portraying California as an island, which explorers thought at the time.

After reviewing more CCTV footage, detectives found that West had visited the library three times to case out security.

An art thief has been sentenced for stealing a 350-year-old map following an investigation by the Met’s Art and Antiques Unit. The case demonstrates the way the specialist police unit works in partnership with British museums and libraries to bring offenders to justice and works to recover nationally-important artefacts. Melvin West, 73 (21.05.1954), was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday, 22 October after pleading guilty at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 19 May to theft, criminal damage and possession of a bladed article. The judge also imposed a 10-year Criminal Behaviour Order preventing West from being alone in any reading room of a museum or library in England and Wales. The investigation Police were called at around 15:00hrs on 26 February 2025, after staff in the Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich found a small knife on the floor under a desk. The desk had been used by a member of the public, later identified as Melvin West, that morning. Staff quickly identified that a 350-year-old atlas, printed in 1684, that was being viewed by West earlier in the day had been cut – and was missing one of its 12 maps. The missing page was a celebrated example of a double hemisphere world map, called Nova Orbis Tabula, by seventeenth century Dutch cartographer Frederick de Wit. Officers discovered as part of the investigation that West had visited the library three times previously. He had registered for a library reader’s card under the name Melville West. CCTV enquiries showed how he removed the map from the book using a small knife and concealed it in his clothing. Experienced detectives from the Met’s Art and Antiques Unit identified West, a thief with multiple convictions in Europe for stealing pages from valuable antique books. Officers obtained a search warrant and arrested West at an address in Chingford, where he was then living, on 4 March 2025. In interview he answered no comment to the majority of questions put to him. The map remains missing and enquiries to locate it are ongoing. Detective Constable Sophie Hayes, of the Met’s Art and Antiques Unit, said: “We are appealing to anyone who has knowledge of the map’s whereabouts to do the right thing and contact the Metropolitan Police so that it can be returned to the library. “The Caird Library is an internationally important resource, used by scholars the world over. Thefts like this mean the only people who profit from these beautiful artefacts are the thieves themselves. “This case demonstrates our determination to bring offenders to justice.” A Royal Museums Greenwich spokesperson said: “We are pleased the criminal case, on which we co-operated closely with the Metropolitan Police’s Art and Antiques Unit, has been brought to a close.” West, of Old Church Road, Chingford was charged on 23 February 2025 with theft, criminal damage and possession of a bladed article.The judge also imposed a 10-year Criminal Behaviour Order preventing West from being alone in any reading room of a museum or library in England and Wales.

He even registered for a library reader’s card under the name Melville West.

Detectives identified West, a thief with multiple convictions in Europe for stealing pages from valuable antique books.

Officers obtained a search warrant and arrested West at an address in Chingford, where he was then living, on 4 March 2025.

He answered no comment to questions asking where the map was now or whether he sold it.

The map remains missing.

16230441 Old World Map 1675, de Wit, Frederick. (Photo by: Picturenow/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
An art thief has been sentenced for stealing a 350-year-old map following an investigation by the Met’s Art and Antiques Unit. The case demonstrates the way the specialist police unit works in partnership with British museums and libraries to bring offenders to justice and works to recover nationally-important artefacts. Melvin West, 73 (21.05.1954), was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday, 22 October after pleading guilty at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 19 May to theft, criminal damage and possession of a bladed article. The judge also imposed a 10-year Criminal Behaviour Order preventing West from being alone in any reading room of a museum or library in England and Wales. The investigation Police were called at around 15:00hrs on 26 February 2025, after staff in the Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich found a small knife on the floor under a desk. The desk had been used by a member of the public, later identified as Melvin West, that morning. Staff quickly identified that a 350-year-old atlas, printed in 1684, that was being viewed by West earlier in the day had been cut – and was missing one of its 12 maps. The missing page was a celebrated example of a double hemisphere world map, called Nova Orbis Tabula, by seventeenth century Dutch cartographer Frederick de Wit. Officers discovered as part of the investigation that West had visited the library three times previously. He had registered for a library reader’s card under the name Melville West. CCTV enquiries showed how he removed the map from the book using a small knife and concealed it in his clothing. Experienced detectives from the Met’s Art and Antiques Unit identified West, a thief with multiple convictions in Europe for stealing pages from valuable antique books. Officers obtained a search warrant and arrested West at an address in Chingford, where he was then living, on 4 March 2025. In interview he answered no comment to the majority of questions put to him. The map remains missing and enquiries to locate it are ongoing. Detective Constable Sophie Hayes, of the Met’s Art and Antiques Unit, said: “We are appealing to anyone who has knowledge of the map’s whereabouts to do the right thing and contact the Metropolitan Police so that it can be returned to the library. “The Caird Library is an internationally important resource, used by scholars the world over. Thefts like this mean the only people who profit from these beautiful artefacts are the thieves themselves. “This case demonstrates our determination to bring offenders to justice.” A Royal Museums Greenwich spokesperson said: “We are pleased the criminal case, on which we co-operated closely with the Metropolitan Police’s Art and Antiques Unit, has been brought to a close.” West, of Old Church Road, Chingford was charged on 23 February 2025 with theft, criminal damage and possession of a bladed article.

DC Sophie Hayes, of the Met’s Art and Antiques Unit, said: ‘We are appealing to anyone who has knowledge of the map’s whereabouts to do the right thing and contact the Metropolitan Police so that it can be returned to the library.

‘The Caird Library is an internationally important resource, used by scholars the world over. Thefts like this mean the only people who profit from these beautiful artefacts are the thieves themselves.

‘This case demonstrates our determination to bring offenders to justice.’

A Royal Museums Greenwich spokesperson said: ‘We are pleased the criminal case, on which we co-operated closely with the Metropolitan Police’s Art and Antiques Unit, has been brought to a close.’

West, of Old Church Road, Chingford was charged on 23 February 2025 with theft, criminal damage and possession of a bladed article.

He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday, 22 October after pleading guilty at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 19 May to theft, criminal damage and possession of a bladed article.

The judge also imposed a 10-year Criminal Behaviour Order preventing West from being alone in any reading room of a museum or library in England and Wales.

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Original source Moment art thief swipes 350-year-old map from London museum

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