An eminient British museum antiquities expert sacked after the disappearance of gold jewellery and semi-precious stones has had his name “dragged through the mud”, his family say. Peter Higgs, 56, a curator of 30 years and head of the department of Greece and Rome, was dismissed last month after it was discovered that artefacts thought to be worth tens of millions of pounds had vanished from the vaults. It is believed to be the largest breach of security in a decade at the central London institution and tourist attraction. Museum bosses said on Wednesday they were taking legal action, but did not identify the employee, and they have launched an independent review of security. The Metropolitan Police are investigating, but say no arrests have been made. The missing items include gold jewellery, semi-precious stones, and glass dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD. Have you been affected by this story? If so email jane.dalton@independent.co.uk Mr Higgs was one of the museum’s “Monuments Men”, a team that tracks down looted artefacts and returns them to their home countries or puts them on display in London. His son, Greg, told The Times he believed his father was innocent, saying: “He’s not done anything. He’s not happy about it at all. “He’s lost his job and his reputation and I don’t think it was fair. It couldn’t have been [him]. I don’t think there is even anything missing as far as I’m aware.” He said his father, who had struggled with money all his life, was now devastated. The Greek collections curator had kept the investigation secret from his family, his son revealed. The 21-year-old had been away when he learnt of the sacking. “It was a massive shock because my dad had had the job for 35 years, and then coming home from a holiday to see everyone so devastated. It was horrific,” he told The Telegraph . “He’d loved his job for so long, he was amazing at it; he published books and just recently he was doing exhibitions for them in other countries. “He recently went to a dig in Turkey, so you would never have thought anything was going on. And then one day everything changed.” He added: “He hasn’t been doing great since it happened. It’s been really sad to watch him be so upset all the time about it. I had never seen him cry before this. He’s devastated, he really is.” The museum, which houses items from around the world, has not confirmed which of its eight million artefacts have gone missing but the number could be in the thousands. Items had reportedly been going missing for several years, although it is understood they were from storage rather than those on show. Greg said his father was with his family now for support because losing half the family income suddenly had been very hard. “At this point he doesn’t even really care what people think of him, he just wants a chance to live a normal life,” he said. “It gets to that point sometimes where even if you’re innocent you’d just rather not have everyone speak to you all the time about it, at least from the museum. He’s lost all faith in the museum. “The one thing he said was that he was really hurt by the fact that even if his colleagues could have supported him they probably wouldn’t be allowed to – that’s what he said to me. “He probably doesn’t want to get his colleagues in trouble. He has a lot of great friends there. He was always very involved, went to the Christmas parties every year. “I spent a lot of time there growing up. Every few months we would go and visit dad at work and annoy all of his colleagues at work. It was a massive part of our lives really and it wasn’t something we ever expected to change.” Greg, a lifeguard, said he did not go to university because he had seen his father struggle with money his whole life. “It wasn’t super-easy before because you’d think world experts would get paid a bit more than they do, but a PhD doesn’t mean everything. That’s why I didn’t go to uni – because I saw him struggling with money his whole life,” he told The Telegraph . “I don’t want to go down the university route, I want to just work, save and be responsible with money. Try that approach.” He added: “The most I can say is that from our perspective I don’t think any of this has been very fair. His name has been completely dragged through the mud and demonised. “I think he had been under investigation for a while, but he didn’t tell any of us until the day it happened to be honest.” Museum director Hartwig Fischer apologised on Wednesday for the missing artefacts, saying “we are determined to put this right” and ready to “throw our efforts into the recovery of objects”. Chairman George Osborne said the trustees were extremely concerned and had “used all the disciplinary powers available to us to deal with the individual we believe to be responsible”. The former chancellor said: “Our priority is now threefold: first, to recover the stolen items; second, to find out what, if anything, could have been done to stop this; and third, to do whatever it takes, with investment in security and collection records, to make sure this doesn’t happen again. “This incident only reinforces the case for the re-imagination of the museum we have embarked upon. It’s a sad day for all who love our British Museum, but we’re determined to right the wrongs and use the experience to build a stronger museum.” At the former curator’s home in Hastings, East Sussex, a grey 54-plate Nissan Micra in the drive and a dog barking inside were the only signs of life. Mr Higgs has not been seen there for a few days, neighbours said, and there was no answer at the front door.