Charles Darwin's manuscripts on evolution stolen from UK library
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A handout image released by the University of Cambridge on November 24, 2020 shows the 1837 "Tree of Life" sketch on a page from one of the lost notebooks of British scientist Charles Darwin. /CFP

A handout image released by the University of Cambridge on November 24, 2020 shows the 1837 "Tree of Life" sketch on a page from one of the lost notebooks of British scientist Charles Darwin. /CFP

Two notebooks belonging to Charles Darwin, one of which featured the 1837 seminal sketch on evolution "Tree of Life," were recently found to have been stolen from the Cambridge University library 20 years ago, according to British media.

The manuscripts are believed to be worth millions of pounds due to their uniqueness.

The library said that the manuscripts were last seen being removed from storage for photography, and the work was completed in November 2000. During a routine check conducted in January 2001, the box containing the notebooks was found not to have been returned to its original place. At the time, the library was undertaking "extensive building work."

"My predecessors genuinely believed that what had happened was that these had been mis-shelved or misfiled and they took forward extensive searches over the years in that genuine belief," Dr Jessica Gardner, university librarian and director of library services since 2017, told the Guardian.

The apparent theft was not reported to the police until October 20 this year. An investigation has begun and Interpol has been notified.

The library has also called on people to report any information on the missing notebooks to manuscriptappeal@lib.cam.ac.uk.

A digitized version of the manuscripts is available online.

Darwin, a British naturalist, geologist and biologist, is best known for developing the theory of evolution.