Thieves stole a collection of historic coins from the Bermuda Historical Society Museum for the second time in two months. Now president Andrew Bermingham is questioning the future of the museum.

The coins, which he described as “Bermuda treasures” with some dating back to 1200, were taken after thieves smashed through the rear window on Wednesday night and accessed a glass cabinet inside the building.

Mr Bermingham told The Royal Gazette: “We seem to be in a phase right now where nothing is sacred. Frankly, given the fact that we run this on a purely volunteer basis, one wonders whether it is all worthwhile.

“The issue is I have to take into account the welfare of the predominantly female volunteers who work here.

“There have been some unsavoury moments and the volunteers are fearful.

“I can’t expect volunteers to man a museum in security and safety if we are going to be subject to this wanton theft of historic Bermuda treasures.

“We open every weekday of the year January 1 to December 31 as a public service to Bermuda.

“The museum charges nothing for admission and is done as a free service for Bermuda, its residents and visitors.

“We have security plans for ourselves but if this type of behaviour is a trend that we cannot combat then I will have to think about its long-term future.

“We cannot sustain this sort of loss when we have to fund our own way.”

Mr Bermingham was visibly distraught adding: “If people have a conscience they can return the items to the museum.”

This society was founded in 1895 and its been in its city centre location since 1957. The Bermuda Police Service said that it was investigating the incident.