MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th November, 2020) The University of Cambridge on Tuesday said that two notebooks, written by English naturalist Charles Darwin, were stolen from its library and appealed to the public for help in locating manuscripts, which contain the famous 1837 Tree of Life sketch.
"Cambridge University Library has announced a public appeal for help in locating two missing notebooks, one of which contains Charles Darwin's iconic 1837 'Tree of Life' sketch, pictured below," the university said in a press release and published the manuscript's photograph.
The notebooks were listed as missing since 2001, but the university, "following an exhaustive search" of the Darwin Archive, which contains nearly 189 boxes, now believes that two manuscripts were stolen.
"Following an exhaustive search, the largest in the library's history, curators have concluded that the notebooks, first listed as missing in January 2001, have likely been stolen," the press release read.
The university has contacted the police in England's Cambridgeshire county about the possible theft and notified Interpol, which added missing notebooks to its database of stolen artworks.
It is estimated that notebooks could be worth many millions in British Pounds, according to the university.
