International Alerts

• The Permanent Delegation of Chile has alerted UNESCO to the theft of cultural property in Chile - June 2022
• The Republic of El Salvador has alerted UNESCO to the theft of cultural property - April 2021
• The Permanent Delegation of Mexico has alerted UNESCO to the theft of cultural property - January 2020
• The Illicit Traffic Unit of the Ministry of Culture of Guatemala has alerted UNESCO to the theft of cultural property - December 2019
• The Permanent Delegation of Ecuador alerted UNESCO to the theft of cultural property - September 2019
• The Ministry of Culture and Sports of Greece alerted UNESCO of thefts of cultural property - December 2018
• Peru's Ministry of Culture alerted UNESCO to thefts of cultural property in Peru - June 2017
• The National Museum of Burkina Faso alerted UNESCO to the theft of the Taaga Bi statuette in Pobé Mengao - March 2017
• The General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) of Syria alerted UNESCO to a number of thefts - 2015 and 2016
• The Permanent Delegation of Bolivia alerted UNESCO to thefts of cultural property in Bolivia - September 2015
• Theft of elements of the mural painting of the former Molmant commando in the town of Leffonds in the Champagne-Ardenne region, France - August 2015.

Following a theft incident, the first thing to do is call the law-enforcement officials and submit to them any information that they may need. Following the crime-scene procedures, the central or responsible authority should inform the National Bureau of INTERPOL of the theft so that they can register the stolen object(s) on the INTERPOL Stolen Works of Art Database.

There are several channels for cooperation concerning the return of an object that is illicitly trafficked, such as: administrative/informal assistance, mutual legal assistance, negotiation, Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP), legal action.

The Checklist has been adopted during the Eight Session of the Subsidiary Committee of the Meeting of States Parties to the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (UNESCO, Paris, 1970) C70/20/8.SC/10.

The checklist is composed of three parts: Before Theft (Precaution Checklist), After Theft and After Locating the Object (abroad).

• UNESCO: Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws
• INTERPOL: Stolen Works of Art Databse
• UNODC: Sharing Electronic Resources and Laws on Crime (SHERLOC)
• ICOM: Red Lists Database

• France: TREIMA Database of the Office Central de lutte contre le trafic des Biens Culturels (OCBC)
• Germany: Lost Art Database
• Italy: Carabinieri National Stolen Cultural Property Database
• Jordan: MEGA-Jordan - A State-of-the-Art System for Jordan’s Archaeological Sites
• Spain: Stolen works of art Database of the Guardia Civil 
• United States of America: National Stolen Art File (NSAF) in the FBI's database