Stolen museum artefacts 'tapu'

Maori artefacts stolen from a Banks Peninsula museum had a tapu over them that some believe will bring bad luck for the thieves.

Police are following "positive leads" in their hunt for the thieves, who cut their way through the roof of the Okains Bay Maori and Colonial Museum last week.

Curator Murray Thacker said he believed the tapu on the stolen artefacts - valued at $500,000 or more - meant the thieves "should have real problems".

Some of the stolen items had deep connections to people and religion of the past. "They are all tapu in that respect. It's not a thing to be defiled or played with."