A month ago, the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center in Cambridge Maryland, celebrated its reopening after undergoing flood repairs. Today, that same museum is shuttering its doors again following a break-in. Over the weekend, the museum honoring the civil rights icon was victim to a robbery that took all of its donation money and vandalism that destroyed its back door.
“The weekend of July 11, we were the unfortunate victims of vandalism. Our back door was broken, and our donation box was stolen,” the Museum wrote in a statement posted to their website. “We will be closed until further notice as we assess the damage and work to repair it.”
Local authorities investigating the break-in believe those involved knew the museum’s layout, including where staff kept the donation box, which they said contained approximately $3,000, per the Baltimore Sun.
“They knew exactly where the money was,” said Cambridge Police Capt. Antoine Patton, per WBOC. “We believe this was an opportunist who had been inside the museum before. It appeared that they broke into the rear door, walked right in, walked directly to the money, took the money container, and walked out. Nothing else inside the museum was disturbed or bothered.”
According to Capt. Patton, the investigation of the robbery is notably more difficult, as the museum’s security cameras were not turned on at the time of the break-in due to the ongoing transition following flood-damage repairs. As a result, police will rely on nearby cameras in the surrounding areas in hopes of spotting anything suspicious.
However, for the museum, which relies solely on donations to operate and maintain its no-admission-fee, the break-in marks a significant loss. For years, the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center has worked to preserve and celebrate the historical legacy of Harriet Tubman and other influential African Americans from Maryland’s Eastern Shore through tours, exhibits, events, and community programming.
Linda Harris, the museum’s director of events and programming, says they will have to spend anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 to not only replace the door, but also upgrade their security system to include cameras and lighting following the incident.
“We weren’t planning for this,” Harris said. “We just raised money to redo our museum. Now we’ve got to raise more money. So, I’m very sad. This place has been here since 1992. It’s an institution. It conveys the story of a person born here in Cambridge. And for someone to vandalize it, it’s pretty sad.”
The museum is now accepting donations here.
