In an effort to show that theft truly is a great problem, I am finding stories from across the globe showing the need for theft prevention and anti-theft classes. Why? Because stealing is a terrible problem and education can curb theft and makes society a safer place.

As Egypt plunges deeper into the political turmoil, looters take advantage of the situation – and the latest robbery of the Malawi Museum in the city of Minya, 300km from Cairo, has been the biggest of its kind in the Egyptians’ living memory. As reported in rt.com.

Egypt in Turmoil: Artifacts in Trouble

Looters got away with more than 1,000 objects, including a prized 3,500-year-old limestone statue, ancient beaded jewelry, gold and bronze Greco-Roman coins, pottery and bronze-detailed sculptures of animals sacred to Thoth, one of the ancient Egyptian deities represented with the head of an ibis.

The building was initially vandalized with looting and burning going on for almost a week now. Local teenagers burned and destroyed mummies and other objects of art which were too heavy for robbers to carry.

The museum’s ticket agent was killed as the theft took place.

With all of the other issues going on in Egypt there were no police or troops nearby to prevent thieves from helping themselves.

Of course this isn’t the first major looting to have happened on Egyptian soil since the 2011 uprising: during the 18-day revolution, looting took place all over the country. In particular, over 50 items were stolen from the Cairo museum. In December 2011, up to 200,000 rare books were destroyed by the blaze in the building of the Egyptian Scientific Institute in Cairo.

Do you think online theft classes would have helped? I would like to think so.