Two more sets of medals missing from Waiouru

Security at the Waiouru Army Museum is under scrutiny again as it admits that two more sets of medals have been missing for some time.

The latest medals loss follows the theft of rifles and other items by a former curator last year, and the haul of Victoria Crosses and other medals stolen in a smash and grab three years ago.

The missing World War I medals include a set given to the museum by a United States donor in 1984 and another set given in 1979, The Dominion Post reported.

An angry relative said the loss of his grandfather's medals was covered up for years. The family only found out about it last November.

"This is pretty poor for a national museum," he said.

The army disclosed the loss of medals and other items from its 500,000-item collection after an Official Information Act request sparked by revelations that a curator had been sacked for stealing museum pieces.

Army spokesman Kristian Dunne said the two sets of five or six medals were "lost, stolen or misplaced" and had been missing for some time. The museum did not have photos of the medal sets.

Maj Dunne said that when the museum opened in 1978 it was manned by military staff who had little or no experience in running a museum.

An electronic inventory system was introduced in 1994 but it could take years before all the collection was archived, he said.

- NZPA