The British Museum – a major tourist attraction in London – has dismissed a staff member after items dating back as far as the 15th century BC were found to be missing, stolen or damaged.

The museum said it has also ordered an independent review of security and a ‘‘vigorous program to recover the missing items,” and, according to museum chair George Osborne, the incident “only reinforces the case for the reimagination of the museum we have embarked upon,” Osborne said.

The stolen artifacts include gold jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th century B.C. to the 19th century A.D. Most were small items kept in a storeroom and none had been on display recently, the museum 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,″ said Osborne.

The museum said legal action would be taken against the dismissed staff member and that the matter was under investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police Service.

The 264-year-old British Museum draws visitors from around the world who come to see a vast collection of artifacts ranging from the Rosetta Stone that unlocked the language of ancient Egypt to scrolls bearing 12th century Chinese poetry and masks created by the indigenous people of Canada.

Hartwig Fischer, the director of the British Museum, apologized and said the institution was determined to put things right.

“This is a highly unusual incident,’’ said Fischer said. “I know I speak for all colleagues when I say that we take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously.’’