A thief who stole an antique map from an atlas at the National Maritime Museum has been jailed for three years at Woolwich Crown Court.

Melvin West used a small knife to cut the map out of the 350-year-old volume in the Caird Library in February last year.

The double hemisphere world map, Nova Orbis Tabula, by the 17th-century Dutch cartographer Frederick de Wit, remains missing.

Police were called after museum staff found a small knife under a desk. West, 73, had used the desk that morning.

CCTV had captured him using a knife to remove the map, one of 12 in the book, before concealing it in his clothing.

Officers found that West had visited the library three times previously and applied for a reader’s card in the name of Melville West.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s art and antiques unit identified West, who had multiple convictions in Europe for stealing pages from valuable antique books.

He was arrested at his home in Chingford, northeast London, the following month, and answered “no comment” to most of the questions put to him by detectives.

West pleaded guilty to theft, criminal damage and possession of a bladed article at Bromley magistrates’ court in May and was sentenced at Woolwich on Thursday.

On top of the prison sentence, West was given a ten-year-order banning him from being alone in any reading room of a museum or library in England and Wales.

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 spokesman 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.”

❤️ Get better local news on your phone. Add The Greenwich Wire as a preferred source on Google.    

📩 Follow The Greenwich Wire on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn  or Threads. You can also sign up for WhatsApp alerts – or subscribe to our emails through the blue box above.