A dozen Maori artefacts are believed to have gone missing from the Southland Museum and Art Gallery in Invercargill.
It is understood a box, believed to contain 12 greenstone Maori adzes, disappeared during the past month.
The artefacts were last seen in the museum's receiving area, which is closed to the public, and were waiting to be catalogued.
Southland Museum and Art Gallery manager Gael Ramsay declined to comment when contacted.
Invercargill police confirmed a detective had been assigned, but he was unavailable for comment.
While the value of these artefacts is unknown, a Ngai Tahu spokesman said last night a high-quality greenstone adze could be insured for up to $1 million.
