Museum recovery discovers theft of guns, button collection and more

October 19, 2018 7:00 pm
(Aberdeen Museum of History) This cup was recently recovered from the remains of the Aberdeen Museum of History. The cup also survived a major fire in October of 1903, according to the museums Facebook page.
(Aberdeen Museum of History) This cup was recently recovered from the remains of the Aberdeen Museum of History. The cup also survived a major fire in October of 1903, according to the museums Facebook page.

As artifact recovery continues at the Aberdeen Museum of History, the salvage team discovered that some items have been stolen from the building.

It’s suspected that a break-in happened on Sept. 18, when a neighbor noticed one of the plywood boards that secured the museum’s garaged door opening had been removed, according to Aberdeen Parks Director Stacie Barnum in a press release. The neighbor immediately reported this to the Parks Department, but the missing items weren’t discovered until weeks later, when the recovery company was first let into the building.

The missing items include: rifles, guns, a button collection, check book, bank information, Ipads, and cash cards, according to the press release. It hasn’t been determined if those are all of the items stolen.

The Restoration Management Company (RMC) has been retrieving and restoring other museum artifacts. After being retrieved, the artifacts are inspected by museum staff and then reviewed by city staff and the city’s insurance adjuster. Many of the artifacts suffered smoke and fire damage, according to Barnum. RMC has been able to restore many of the artifacts with methods like vacuuming; cleaning metal artifacts with microfiber cloths; detailing photos and file documents with soft natural-bristled paint brushes; and cleaning books with dry cleaning sponges.

Anyone with information regarding the stolen items from the Armory can contact the Aberdeen Police Department at 360-533-3180.

(Aberdeen Museum of History) This hat belonged to Emily Airhart, who played a key role in developing the Aberdeen Museum of History, according to the museum’s Facebook page. It was recently recovered from the Armory building.

(Aberdeen Museum of History) This hat belonged to Emily Airhart, who played a key role in developing the Aberdeen Museum of History, according to the museum’s Facebook page. It was recently recovered from the Armory building.