Possum trashes priceless museum relics

A "dirty great possum" ran amok inside a museum over several nights, destroying "priceless" relics and creating fears a gang of vandals had trashed the historic pieces.

The possum, which was trapped this morning, destroyed antiques and paintings after it climbed down a chimney at the Moruya Museum, on the New South Wales South Coast in Australia.



Museum committee member John Sewell said he was shocked at the amount of damage the marsupial had caused. “The amount of stuff that was knocked over was incredible,” Mr Sewell said

He said the damage was discovered on Wednesday morning - four days after the museum was last open for customers. “We thought, at first, that we had a break-in,” he said.



After it was found the damage was likely to have been caused by a possum and that a trap would not be available until yesterday, Mr Sewell said he had to endure another night knowing the offending possum may return.

“We tidied up the best we could on Wednesday, but in the front room yesterday morning there was more mess.”

There are more, heavily watermarked, photos of the damage here.