Thieves have gone to great lengths to burgle Talana Museum – this time they even ‘drugged’ two security guards.

Curator, Pam McFadden, said she received a call from the security company at around 4am to say that the alarm had gone off in the main building and that it appeared as trespassers were inside.

“When we got there, the reaction unit had discovered that both security officers were unconscious in the ladies’ toilet block.  We called an ambulance and they were taken to hospital.  The possibility that the thieves somehow drugged them has not been ruled out,” she said.

The thieves broke in through the mine display entrance, where old mine machinery is kept outside, and smashed open a display window to steal two silver trophies in the mine display cabinets.

Pam said an attempt was also made to open other display cabinets, but nothing else appears to have been taken.  Police are investigating.  This appears to be one of several burglaries that are currently sweeping through Dundee.

Last month, thieves broke in through the roof at the museum. Undetonated explosives were found near the opened safes when Talana Museum was burgled and over 90 valuable medals stolen.
The explosives have been sent for testing, police said.
A comprehensive list of the stolen items and pictures of the medals has been posted on Talana Museum’s website.
These include twenty-four Dundee trade tokens, military and police buttons, military badges, a 1 000 Reichsdollar note as well as money notes from Mozambique, Zambia, Angola, Hong Kong, USA, Namibia and Switzerland.
A laptop, on which there was a comprehensive list of the Museum archive – 15 years of work, said curator, Pam McFadden – was also stolen, along with a data project and an undisclosed amount of cash.